Beautiful Missionary
by more-than-words
Summary: “And then there was you and me, just stuck in the middle of it all, with no way out and no way to get back to where we came from. And that was it. The end of it all.” 10Rose romance and adventure, Doomsday doesn’t happen. Now complete.
1. Carnival Magnifique

**Disclaimer: **If I owned it, I'd be writing this as a script for the BBC instead of masses of prose for my own amusement. You know who it belongs to.

**Genre:** Action/adventure, romance, angst, drama, sci-fi, suspense, fluff, some horror.

**Rating:** T, for later chapters.

**Summary: **"And then there was you and me, just stuck in the middle of it all, with no way out and no way to get back to where we came from. And that was it. The end of it all." 10Rose adventure/romance, Doomsday doesn't happen. Set sometime after The Idiot's Lantern. This is part 1 of around 20.

**Author's note: **Huge thanks to everyone who's read and/or reviewed my stories in the past, it really means the world to me. Hope you like this one as much! Updates will be every Monday, until I have the majority of the story written when I'll update on Mondays and Fridays. Supremely massive 'thank you' goes to Leila-Rose-Bell, keeper of the poking stick (!) and fellow obsessive. I wouldn't have got this far without you! Enjoy the story everybody! Jenni xx

**But the constellation**

**of his future love has long**

**been moving among the stars.**

_**From 'Duration of Childhood' by R.M. Rilke, translated by Stephen Mitchell.**_

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_A man walks down the street on his way to meet his lover. His heart is pounding madly in his chest; both in excitement and in fear of what will happen if they are discovered. This affair is nothing short of suicide for him, but he's always known he'd be willing to give his life for love. _

_He clutches a bag in his hand; inside is a present for Airlia. It won't be long now until they can escape and be together without the secrets and the lies, he knows. That day can't come soon enough. His pace quickens as he nears his destination, approaching the building where she will be waiting for him._

_Times are tense, and he needs this affair to keep him sane. Citizens line the streets in protest against their oppression, and he wonders what Airlia makes of this. She always finds these situations awkward, her good heart and her belief in freedom contradicting with everything her family stands for, contrasting starkly with the position her father holds. She must be tearing herself apart right now, he thinks._

_And there. The building is just up ahead and he can hardly keep the smile off his face as he draws ever closer to Airlia, their tickets to freedom held in the bag in his hand. He nears the door. A group of protestors rush out of a side street, placards held high and all of them chanting. 'Freedom', they cry. 'Freedom.' There are more of them now as he walks on, ten steps to go, five, four, three… There is a shout from the back of the crowd; a man's voice shouting out, wanting to be heard, **demanding **attention. _

_This is the day that everything changes._

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The Doctor and Rose stepped out of the calm of the TARDIS and into complete and utter madness. From their position at the top of a hill they could see everything going on around them for miles. A little way down the slope a gaggle of people stood in bright costumes and feathered headdresses, their skin painted with fluorescent swirls and stripes. To the left of them were a group of women in floating gypsy-style outfits, their faces painted with metallic make-up.

'Where are we?' Rose asked as they stood surveying the scene.

'Somewhere outside Bordeaux in 1959, August. A few months ago Charles de Gaulle became the first president to preside over the Fifth Republic of France. In exactly three years time there'll be an assassination attempt on him, which makes it… August the 22nd, to be precise.' The Doctor nodded to emphasise his point, feeling proud of himself as Rose turned to look up at him with her eyebrows raised.

'Right,' she said. 'Of course. Where else?' She grinned at him, letting him grasp her hand in his and start to tug her down the hill towards all the activity that carried on below.

They descended down into the heart of the carnival, passing people in obscure costumes and men on stilts, people selling food and others who seemed to be selling themselves. The sun was low in the sky as it began to drop behind a hill and the first stars of the night could be seen trying to break through the blanket of the sky. Flame torches were beginning to be lit all around, and gaudy neon signs flashed above a huge tent. 'You want to go to the circus, Rose?' the Doctor asked her.

She shrugged, her gaze scanning over the landscape before them. She was about to reply when something at the bottom of the hill and over to the right caught her eye. 'No,' she said. 'I want to go over there.' She pointed at where she meant, the Doctor following the line of her arm to see what she was aiming at.

The Doctor grinned. 'We come all the way to this magnificent carnival in 1959 France with spectacular parades and events, and you want to go to the funfair?'

'Only for a bit,' Rose said innocently, turning to press herself into the Doctor's side. She held his hand in both of hers and looked up at him with that wide-eyed expression she knew he found hard to resist. 'Then we can spend the rest of the night doing anything you want.'

'Anything Rose?' he questioned her, his voice deliberately low and husky. Flame twinkled in his eyes as someone walked by with a burning tree branch and threw it on a bonfire that was beginning to grow near-by. 'That's a dangerous word… "Anything".' He turned into her, their faces only inches apart. 'Who knows what I might choose?'

Rose grinned, more than willing to play along with this little game. She loved it when the Doctor flirted with her, or when he pretended to come on to her. She only wished that one day he might start to do it for real. 'Well,' she said. 'Seeing as it was your idea to come to the carnival, I'm sure you can find a few things here that you'd like to do.'

'Oh yes,' he agreed, something dangerous entering his expression as he studied the girl in front of him. He wondered if she could tell he was being serious, or if she was still naïve enough not to notice. 'We could find an empty tent… Create our own sideshow. Become the star attraction!'

'Well, we could do that.' Rose nudged him playfully in the ribs and linked her arms around his neck, stretching up to whisper into his ear. She missed the slight change in the Doctor's breathing and the speed of his heartbeat as she staggered slightly, his arms coming around her waist to steady her. 'But that's really going to get in the way of my plan.'

The Doctor's breath was warm against her cheek as he replied. 'And what is your plan?' he asked.

Rose pulled away and grinned at him, taking his hand in hers once more and dragging him down the hill behind her. 'Haunted House!' she yelled, heading towards the funfair.

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_Exactly two years, four months, seventeen days, one hour and twenty-nine minutes before life changes forever, Damien meets the love of his life. He is walking in the flower garden in the park of Valtallahan when he sees Airlia up ahead. She is sitting on a bench, her pretty golden hair falling around her shoulders and glinting in the weak sunlight. She is reading a book._

_Damien walks closer to her, the smell of flower blossom filling his nose as an unidentified feeling wells up in his chest. It's something he's never felt before, but he decides that it's good. He stops next to the bench that Airlia is sitting on and she looks up at his face. _

'_Hello,' he says eagerly, not knowing what has come over him to make him so brazen. 'Do you mind if I sit here?'_

_She studies him for a moment, appraising him with her eyes before she shakes her head and flashes him a smile he has learned to love more than his own life. 'No,' she says. 'Please do.' And her voice is like a soothing balm, or honey poured over fresh bread._

_They sit in silence for a few moments as Damien pretends to watch the scenery and Airlia pretends to read. 'What's your name?' he asks eventually._

'_Airlia,' she says, closing her book quietly. 'What's your name?'_

'_Damien.' He smiles at her and shakes her hand when she offers it. The strange surging in his chest intensifies as she touches him and he suddenly has a new faith in poetry and the romantic literature that is so popular these days. His breath catches in his throat when she smiles at him again._

_This is the day that Damien learns to believe in love at first sight._

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'Didn't think you were scared of anything!' Rose teased the Doctor as they walked away from the Haunted House.

He looked down at her, his eyebrows raised and his face slightly flushed. 'I guess I wasn't quite prepared for that,' he said. 'Didn't think there was going to be… jumpy things.'

Rose laughed. The moment they had entered the Haunted House a mummy had jumped out at them and scared the Doctor witless. If Rose flexed her left hand, she could still feel the slight ache where the Doctor had gripped onto her tightly, his fingers wrapping around hers in a death-grip. He had spent the rest of their walk around the House attached to her like a limpet and had only released her hand when the darkening sky of outside had been visible.

Now they walked amongst various stalls and events, soaking up the atmosphere as a crowd gathered to watch a fire-eater and men in wooden clown masks squirted passers-by with water. The backdrop of the blazing torches behind them made them look more suitable for Halloween than a carnival. A line of children wearing fairy costumes walked past, chattering away as they were herded over to where the main show of the evening was due to take place after the sun had set completely.

'Doctor?'

'Yes Rose?' He looked down at his companion as they stopped for a moment to watch men in elaborate Elizabethan costumes duelling with each other whilst riding unicycles. He smiled at the way the light of the fire reflected off her hair from behind her, making it sparkle in the dim light.

'Why did you want to come to the carnival?' she asked. 'Not that I mind of course- this is really great- I was just… wondering.'

The Doctor shrugged. 'Do I need a reason?' He continued before Rose could say anything in reply, his hand seeking hers out in the dark. 'Bit of fun,' he said. 'Exciting time, good night out… and I thought you might like it.' He leaned close to her ear, his breath disturbing her hair as he spoke. 'We have had a hard time lately, don't you think?' he asked her quietly.

She didn't reply but he felt her tense up, flexing her fingers against his as he gripped her hand lightly. He knew instantly that she agreed with him; the way she leaned slightly into him was more than enough to tell him that she could probably do with some quiet time… Not that the carnival was overly quiet mind, but it was fun and relatively trouble-free.

'Now, Rose,' he said in a mock serious voice, keeping his head close to hers and speaking in a low tone so that there was no chance of him being overheard. 'I'm feeling slightly stupid after the Haunted House incident so I think we need to do something so I can prove to you I don't scare easy.'

'Scared I think you're a wimp?' she teased, looking up at him and smiling, firelight playing over her face.

'Would you judge me if I said yes?'

Rose frowned, pretending to consider the Doctor's question seriously. 'Yes,' she said eventually.

'Right then!' The Doctor spun around and started walking again, Rose by his side. 'In that case, I think it's necessary that we go on the scariest ride here in order to prove my masculinity to you.'

'And what would that be?' Rose asked, her eyes quickly scanning over a row of stalls as the Doctor led her over to the other side of the huge field.

He grinned down at her. 'Ghost train,' he said, madness dancing in his eyes.

They walked across the field, far away from where they had left the TARDIS on the hill earlier. The sky was almost completely dark now and more stars were starting to shine, twinkling away between tree branches and glinting through the flames of the large bonfire that was currently being adorned with the effigy of somebody Rose didn't recognise. She stared up at the sky for a moment, letting the Doctor lead the way through the streams of people as she studied the diamond-like stars.

Looking back towards the ground, she frowned and blinked. _My eyes must be going funny_, she thought. Everything in her vision had taken on a hazy effect and she slowed her pace, turning her head to find that all the people looked blurry. Not blurry like they would if she was short-sighted, but blurry as though they had all been smudged like a drawing done in chalk or pastel. A large group of people a little further ahead blurred together until they became one large shape, colours melding together until they started to dissipate and disappear. Rose stopped walking, vaguely aware of the Doctor looking down at her with concern.

'Rose?' she thought she heard him say.

She shook her head, blinking several times. Everything stayed the same. Colours and people smudged together, lines blurred and all she could hear was the roar of the bonfire. _What the hell is going on?_

The Doctor stepped in front of her and grasped her shoulders, bending down slightly to look into her eyes. 'Rose?' he asked. 'Rose, what is it?' When her dazed expression remained, he waved a hand in front of her face and shook her lightly before snapping his fingers next to her ear.

'What?' Rose frowned as the Doctor stepped aside and she saw that everything had regained its clarity, shapes becoming redefined and the crowd ahead separating out until all the people looked normal again. She looked up at the Doctor, confused. 'Doctor, what was that?'

He studied her carefully, unsure what she meant. 'What was what, Rose?'

'Just then,' she replied insistently. 'Everything blurred together, and it was like all those people were disappearing.' She pointed at the people she meant. 'It was like we were in a whole other place.'

'Are you feeling all right?' he asked, worried. One hand went to her forehead to check her temperature. _Normal._ 'Do you feel dizzy?'

She shook her head. 'No, Doctor. I'm fine. I _swear_ everything changed just then. It was like everyone was going to disappear to be replaced with something else. I… I dunno. It was _weird._'

The Doctor nodded slowly, listening to what Rose said. Her temperature was normal, she was entirely lucid and she seemed pretty certain that what she had just said was true. He wondered what was going on. 'Okay,' he told her. 'Let me know if it happens again. Tell me straight away.'

'Right,' she replied, closing her eyes for a few moments to clear her head. She took a deep breath and opened them again, smiling widely at the Doctor. 'So, Mr Chicken,' she said playfully. 'Time for the ghost train?'

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_Damien is nervous tonight. He's waiting for Airlia to show up at the restaurant he's booked for their first date, and his heart is in his mouth. He's sweating more than he usually would and he's felt like he's going to be sick all day. He looks at his watch; she should be here any minute._

_And there. Sure enough, right on time Airlia comes through the door looking even more gorgeous than she did when he met her in the park yesterday. She smiles when she sees him and heads over to where he's sitting. He stands as she approaches, taking her hand in his and placing a gentle kiss on it, his eyes locked on hers._

_They sit, and the evening passes well. They talk and learn about each other and eat food off each other's plates. All too soon the time comes for them to leave; the curfew will be coming into effect soon and it won't do if they are caught out after hours. Damien leaves some money on the table and escorts Airlia from the restaurant._

_He walks her home with her arm linked through his, a light rain starting to fall as the sky darkens for the night. He gives her his jacket when he feels her start to shiver. She smiles at him again and says 'Thank you.'_

_All too soon they reach her apartment building and it is time to say goodnight. They stand out on the street for a few moments longer, not touching or speaking, just looking. Eventually Damien can stand it no longer and he steps closer, leaning towards Airlia._

'_Do you…' he starts, his throat dry and his voice cracking. 'I mean, would you mind if I…'_

_He trails off and presses his lips to hers, tasting her sweetness and absorbing the warm scent of her perfume. She takes his hands in hers and returns the kiss, making it last as the rain starts to come down harder and soaks through their clothes._

_Eventually he pulls away and looks into her eyes. 'Thank you,' he says, though for what he is not exactly sure._

_He steps away, placing one more kiss on her knuckles before he tells her good night and that he'd like to see her again. She bites her lip in a way that makes her look adorable and nods in agreement. She turns and leaves to go inside. He watches until her door is shut and he can't see her anymore before turning to leave and go home to dream of Airlia._

_This is the night that Damien learns he has always underrated pleasure in the past._

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The Doctor and Rose sat side by side on the ghost train, laughing together as they waited for it to move. The building around them creaked slightly, and Rose hoped it was all part of the effect rather than bad construction. "Death by Fairground Ride" didn't sound like a way she particularly wanted to die.

As she laughed at one of the Doctor's bad jokes about peanut butter and some alien he'd met that had four heads but no arms, she mulled over the strange event that had occurred earlier. She was fairly sure that what she had seen was real, that everything really had gone blurry and out of focus but she still couldn't work out what had caused it. Still, she supposed, if the Doctor wasn't worried about it there was no reason for her to panic over it. It was probably just a blip. Strange things happen sometimes, or so he always told her.

The ghost train started to move and Rose turned to the Doctor with a smile on her face. 'Need me to hold your hand?'

He laughed. 'I'm a big boy, Rose,' he said. He took her hand anyway; he loved these little excuses to touch her.

Thirty seconds later and the Doctor was bored. The train was moving slower than a wind-up milk cart and he had managed to pre-predict every "scary" thing that had happened so far. This was hardly the best place to try and prove his masculine courage to Rose, especially as she seemed just as bored as he was. She had slouched down in the small carriage to rest her head on his shoulder, her free hand toying with the sleeve of his coat. He stared straight ahead, pretending not to notice as her cool fingers brushed against his wrist and sent a small shiver up his spine.

Focusing on a rather tacky representation of a "haunted forest" just up ahead, it took him just under three seconds to work out that a "ghost" or perhaps a "werewolf" would jump out at them as they passed beneath the low-hanging tree branches. Sure enough, as the train made its way beneath the trees a decorated white sheet fell down, accompanied by a whooshing sound and a howling that the Doctor supposed was meant to be wind. _So predictable,_ he thought as the material grazed over his face momentarily.

And then something strange happened. The cardboard trees that surrounded them seemed to contract and then lunge out, branches whipping only centimetres in front of the Doctor's face. He started to lift his arm to shield Rose from the wild and erratic movements of the ride around them, but glancing down he found her still leaning contentedly against his shoulder, apparently oblivious as a person appeared on the middle of the track only a few metres away. The Doctor frowned as the world warped around him and he shook his head, hoping to clear his vision. Nothing changed, and he was reminded of what Rose had told him earlier about people blurring together and seeming as though they weren't real.

The person on the track in front of train seemed to be oblivious to their surroundings. They stood sideways on, standing and staring at something as they clutched a bag in one hand. _Definitely a man,_ thought the Doctor. The train moved closer, and he saw that it was only a silhouette of a man, that he wasn't really there at all. _But…_ He still looked real, as though he was actually standing in front of them but someone had taken away his substance to make him ghost-like. _Definitely not part of the ride._

The train was almost on top of the pseudo-man now and the Doctor was torn between wanting to push him out of the way and waiting to see what would happen if he was hit by the train. He stayed sitting stock-still except for the hand that clutched Rose's more tightly in his. They were only a metre away from the man now… Half a metre…

There was a loud clanking sound as the Doctor's vision righted itself and the world returned to its normal proportions. One last clang and the strange man disappeared, the bag still gripped tightly in his hand. The train moved on. The Doctor sat up straighter and shook himself, his mind whirling. _What the hell was that?_ Suddenly he knew that what Rose had described earlier had been real, not her mind playing tricks on her like he had suspected. That is, unless his mind was playing up as well, which he doubted enormously.

'Doctor?' Rose was sitting up now, looking at him strangely as he realised that the ride was over and they were back outside in the warm night air. He stared down at her, a look of disbelief and puzzlement on his face. 'Doctor, are you all right?' She sounded worried.

'Yep!' he exclaimed a little too loudly. 'Just zoned out there for a moment; that ghost train wasn't as thrilling as I'd hoped it would be.' He jumped up and helped Rose out of the carriage to stand next to him, a light breeze blowing her hair around her face.

'Yeah, it was rubbish,' she replied, studying him carefully. She didn't look convinced. 'What happened?'

He debated telling her that he'd had a similar experience to her, that he'd seen something he really shouldn't have seen. Something that should never have been there in the first place. But something held him back. They were here to have a good time, not to worry about strange visions and blurry shapes. Plus, it's not like they ever had to investigate to find trouble, he knew. If there was trouble to be had, it would find them soon enough. 'Nothing,' he told Rose. 'It's fine. Another ride?'

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_Approximately two years and four months later, Damien doesn't know what to do. This is the start of something big, he knows. History is happening right in front of his eyes and he doesn't know what to do about it. The protestors are gathering momentum now, running past him and shoving him backwards into the side of a building._

_They are clustering together in the street, joining together with the placard-carrying citizens he walked past only a few moments before. And now the group of them are surging forward as more and more spill out from side streets. They are heading to the government's headquarters, he knows, going to cause some damage to the regime they hate so much. He can hear that man shouting again, encouraging them to make a stand and fight for what they deserve. Damien is torn in two; part of him invigorated by the man's words, part of him hating the events that are taking place in front of his eyes._

_He should run now, save his life. Airlia would want him to run. She always said that if something like this were to happen then he should flee and save himself. But he can't. And now he's making his way back towards the building where she waits, knowing that he cannot- **will not**- leave her like this. Even if it means the end of his life, he can't bring himself to carry out Airlia's demands and leave her alone._

_This is the day that Damien learns love comes above all else._

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**A/N: **Hope you liked the first chapter! Please leave a review and I'll give you a banana daiquiri as a thank you :D Jen xx


	2. Out of Place

**A/N:** Thanks to the lovely people who reviewed the last chapter, and to all the other people who took the time to read it. It means a lot to me that you enjoy this :D Enjoy chapter 2!! Jenni xx

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'Doctor, are you okay?' Rose asked as they walked away from the food stall with a large cloud of candyfloss to share between them. They had been on their way to find another ride when the Doctor had decided he was hungry and veered them off towards a row of stalls selling food. Rose was only surprised he hadn't gone for the toffee-covered banana, letting her choose what to buy whilst he scanned the crowd around them suspiciously.

'I'm fine,' he replied distractedly, his gaze coasting over the huge field. He was on the lookout for anything odd, for anything that shouldn't be here. What he had seen earlier hadn't been right. There was no way a man could've appeared in front of them out of nowhere and then disappeared. And there was no way that could've happened without Rose seeing it as well. Just as, he supposed, there was no way she could've seen what she had seen without him at least noticing something strange as well. He couldn't decide if there was actually something strange going on or if both he and Rose were going not-so-slowly mad as a result of their hair-raising adventures.

The Doctor broke out of his internal musings when he felt something soft brush over his lips. He looked down to find Rose holding a fluffy clump of candyfloss to his mouth, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she smiled coyly at him. 'You said you were hungry,' she reminded him. 'You gonna eat something?'

He smiled and opened his mouth, letting her push the candyfloss inside. His lips brushed against her fingers as she pulled her hand away and they both shivered slightly. The Doctor tried to think when Rose had first started to affect him like this, when she had acquired the ability to make his thoughts lose coherence and his body tremble from the smallest touch. When he was with her, he felt- for lack of a better word- somehow human. He couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not, but he knew he definitely liked it when she touched him. He liked it a lot, in fact. More than he should, and more than he could ever admit to. He chewed the candyfloss slowly and swallowed, reaching out for more when he had finished. He blinked to clear his vision, certain that if anything was even slightly out of place he would notice it. He was determined not to let anything else go by, his inquisitive nature leading him back to the topic of the strange occurrences earlier this evening.

He let Rose lead him through the crowd, one hand held loosely in hers. Everything had taken on a new crispness and clarity now, even in the dark of the night, as he focussed his attention on what he could see around him. Everything seemed normal now, the bonfire glowing brightly to their left as all the people in gaudy costumes gathered around it and music started playing somewhere nearby. He wondered if he was worrying unnecessarily over this, if perhaps he was on edge because he was desperate for Rose to have a good time tonight, free from trouble for once. He turned his attention back to her, lacing his fingers through hers and taking more candyfloss when she offered it.

'Rose,' he said.

She turned to him, her face young and expectant and all naïve innocence. 'Yes, Doctor?'

'Are you… I mean, would you…' He coughed, not entirely sure what he was trying to ask her. Somehow asking her if she was okay seemed futile and unnecessary and she would only worry that he was up to something. He should ask her though; she had been through a lot recently what with him regenerating, her dad rejecting her, losing Mickey, getting her face sucked off by a 1950s television set… Yeah, somehow "are you okay?" didn't really seem to cut it. 'What do you want to do next?' he asked instead.

'Dunno,' she replied. 'We could go look at that parade, if you want,' she suggested, nodding back up the hill they had walked down earlier this afternoon.

'Nah,' the Doctor said. He slipped his hand out of hers and rested his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him as a group of teenagers pushed past them. He left his arm there after they'd gone. 'How about…' he started, looking around for inspiration. 'The House of Mirrors!' he exclaimed, spotting the brightly lit building about a hundred metres away, the bonfire reflecting in the mirrors that adorned the entrance. In the slightly distorted reflection, he didn't notice the way the effigy on top of the bonfire warped and then seemed to come alive, the life-size doll writhing as though it was a real person burning. The figure danced on top of the flames, its mouth open in the shape of a scream, although any sound the not-quite-real person made was drowned out by the festivities all around it. Slowly, it became still again, crumpling into the heart of the fire like a man burned at the stake would do in death. Nobody batted an eyelid.

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_Damien is jumping around his living room with nerves. He has been dating Airlia for two months now, and every second they have spent together has been perfect. He is scared at how intensely he loves her after such a short period of time, is terrified by the fact that he can think of nothing but her. _

_The smell of her hair, the way she smiles, the way her body feels against his as he holds her all crowd the rational part of his mind every waking moment of the day. Every sleeping thought is consumed by fantasies of what could be; holidays in exotic locations, a lifetime of happiness spent together, her body moving beneath his…_

_She knocks on the door, right on time as always. He cannot keep the smile from his face as he answers it, sweeping her up into his arms the second he sees her. She squeaks as he swings her round, laughing as he dips her for a kiss, her hair trailing on the floor._

_He has been imagining this day for as long as he has known her, has specially washed his bed sheets for this occasion. 'You look gorgeous,' he says._

_She smiles the smile that melts him every time. 'You always say that.'_

'_Well you always look gorgeous.'_

'_Thank you.' She catches her bottom lip in between her teeth and looks down. 'Damien,' she begins._

'_Yes?' He takes her hand, leads her over to the sofa and coaxes her to sit. He places himself next to her, not letting go of her hand._

'_I've been thinking…' She trails off, nervousness written all over her lovely face._

_He smiles at her in a way he thinks makes him look kind and compassionate. 'I've been thinking too, angel,' he says, his free hand moving to brush her hair away from her eyes. 'I've been thinking that we're having an amazing time together.' He pauses to kiss her, mistaking the nervous tremble that runs through her as excited anticipation. 'And I've been thinking that we could make it even more amazing.'_

_He kisses her again, one hand on the back of her head and the other sliding to grip her waist. She gives in to him for a moment before pulling away and standing up. She walks to the other side of the room and stands looking out of the window of his apartment. 'No, Damien. I need… I need to tell you something before we can… do anything. It wouldn't be fair otherwise.'_

_He frowns and shifts forward on his seat, his hands gripping the edge of the sofa cushion. 'Okay,' he says, feeling slightly stupid for assuming she wouldn't resist him. 'What is it?'_

_And reluctantly, she tells him everything he needs to know, stopping to take a steadying breath here and there, pausing when the tears well up in her sparkling eyes. He listens silently, intently, his heart pounding as she tells him all the risks of being in a relationship with her. She tells him things that should make him sick, should make him throw her out of the apartment and his life just for crimes by association, but he doesn't care about any of it. What scares him the most is how much he still wants to be with her when she has finished her story. He takes her to bed and makes love to her slowly through the night, tears pouring out of them both when they finish._

_This is the day Damien learns who Airlia really is._

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'I think I've worked out why you wanted to come in here,' Rose told the Doctor as they crossed the entrance and walked into the House of Mirrors.

'Oh yeah?'

'Yeah.' She grinned and rolled her eyes, watching him admire himself in the mirrors as they walked passed them. 'Your big ego!' she teased him.

'What?' He stopped and turned to her, a mock-annoyed expression on his face. He couldn't hold it for long and broke out into a grin as Rose sniggered behind her hand. He moved her hand away from her face and held it in his. 'I do not have a big ego, Rose Tyler!'

Rose gasped at his blatant lie. 'You totally do!' she exclaimed, laughing at him. 'You can't stop checking yourself out in the mirrors! You're totally in love with your looks this time round,' she informed him, poking him in the ribs playfully.

'Well,' he said, attempting to sound at least somewhat serious. 'I am _unusually_ sexy in this body.' He leaned close to her, his free hand brushing against her waist as he allowed his fingers to play with the hem of her top. 'What do you think, hmm?'

She blushed, hoping he wouldn't notice in the dim light and glad that his body was blocking the view of herself in the mirror opposite. She wasn't a fan of the colour her skin went when she blushed. 'Yeah, you're not so bad,' she stuttered, suddenly becoming extremely interested in studying the floor at her feet. 'You look nice,' she said.

The Doctor was quiet for a moment, before he straightened up and looked over Rose's head to study himself in a mirror. 'Nice,' he repeated. 'I look _nice._ Whatever happened to words like _sexy_ and _absolutely devastating_? Got anything a little bit more enthusiastic, Rose?' he asked, pretend hurt in his voice. He stuck his bottom lip out and made those puppy dog eyes he knew she found hard to resist.

She looked up at him again, drinking in his fluffy brown hair, the eyes she felt like she could drown in, the cheekbones so chiselled they'd make a better chisel than an actual chisel and that _mouth_ of his. 'You're gorgeous,' she said quietly. 'You look amazing.' She coughed and lowered her head again in embarrassment. 'Especially with your glasses on.'

There was stunned silence for a moment, the Doctor finally lost for words. Rose shuffled uncomfortably in front of him, looking anywhere but at his face. He struggled to contain the huge grin that wanted to break out and consume him at her words, feeling his insides dance around in glee. To hear that she thought he was gorgeous- especially with his glasses on- made him inexplicably happy, and he once again wondered when she had started to affect him in this way, when it had started to _matter_ whether she thought he was attractive or not. 'Thank you,' he said eventually, hoping that it would do.

'You're welcome.'

She still wouldn't look at him, so he reached out and grasped her chin, bringing her gaze up to meet his. He smiled at her, hooking his fingers into the corners of her mouth and tugging upwards to make her do the same. She burst out laughing unexpectedly, the warm chuff of air sending warm shivers from his hand all the way through his body.

'Don't do that,' she said, pulling his hand away from her mouth. 'Feels weird.'

'Good weird or bad weird?'

She shrugged. 'Dunno. Does it make a difference?'

He didn't hear her, turned once more to face one of the mirrors. He fluffed up his hair and straightened his tie before pulling out his glasses and sliding them on. He took up Rose's hand once more. 'Right then, Miss Tyler,' he said. 'Let's go find some of those lovely and intriguing distorted mirrors and see if we can make ourselves look like the inhabitants of the planet Haglik. Lovely people, they are. Unfortunate about their looks. And the smell; it whiffs a bit around there, something to do with sulphur reacting with… Oh, never mind! This is going to be fun.'

He dragged her down the short corridor and around to the right before coming to a stop in front of a row of distorted mirrors. He let go of her hand and pulled poses to make Rose laugh, his reflection looking like a squashed balloon with a face. 'See Rose!' he exclaimed. 'The resemblance is uncanny! Exactly like the natives from Haglik. Remind me to take you there one day; I think you'd enjoy it.'

She giggled to watch him pulling faces and jumping up and down in front of the mirror like a five year old after eating too many Smarties. Her heart was still pounding from the way he'd looked at her when she'd told him she thought he was gorgeous. He'd done his best to act normal and keep a straight face when the words had left her mouth, but she would have had to be blind and/or completely thick not to notice the way his eyes lit up with pride and happiness. Why she'd had to go and tell him he looked good _especially_ when he had his glasses on was something she was still trying to comprehend, however. The words had just been spoken without any prior permission from her brain to her mouth to speak them.

Turning her attention back to the Doctor admiring himself in the mirror, she frowned at what she saw there. He was still bent over in the shape of a hermit crab in front of her and laughing when the distortion in the mirror made him look like a pancake, apparently not noticing that anything was wrong. Studying the reflection in the mirror, Rose could see a crowd of people distorted out of shape, but they were definitely people. They stood together silently, staring at something, and Rose was sure she could see flames reflected in their eyes.

She spun around, finding nothing behind her apart from another row of mirrors that gave her a very nice view of the Doctor's arse expanded to epic proportions. She turned back to find the strange crowd of people still standing in the mirror. 'Doctor,' she said, hating the way her voice trembled slightly.

'Rose,' he replied, glancing at her before sticking his tongue out and blowing a raspberry at his reflection.

'Doctor,' she said again, more urgently this time. 'Can't you see them?'

'See who, Rose?' He sounded slightly confused. 'We're a couple of decades away from the mass introduction of CCTV; surely you can't be worried about men sitting in rooms ogling a bunch of video screens.'

'No,' she replied insistently. She pointed at the mirror. '_Them._'

The Doctor stopped his precarious balancing on one foot and looked at where she was pointing. 'There's nobody there, Rose. Just us.'

'It looks like there's a crowd of people in there, all staring at something.'

He looked at her and frowned, before reaching into his jacket and taking out the sonic screwdriver. He fiddled with its settings, his eyes still locked firmly on Rose's face. 'Is it the same kind of thing as earlier?' he asked her. 'Does anything look blurry at all?'

Rose studied the scene in front of her. 'Sort of,' she said. 'It's like there's a whole other world in there. It's a bit blurry around the edges.' She indicated where with her hand, the Doctor immediately running his sonic screwdriver over the area. And, if she wasn't mistaken, she could see some type of alien-looking tree swaying at the edges of the crowd.

The Doctor stepped back, turning Rose away from the mirror to face him. 'There's nothing there, Rose,' he said, pocketing the screwdriver once more.

'You must think I'm going mad.'

'No, not mad at all.' He frowned. 'Did you hear that noise?'

She shrugged. 'What noise?'

He held his finger to his lips for a moment. She couldn't hear anything other than normal fairground noises, and their light breathing. 'That noise,' he said. 'Over there.' He stepped past Rose and walked on down the corridor before rounding another corner and disappearing out of sight

Rose turned back to the strange scene in the mirror, only to find it vanished as soon as she had managed to focus on it again. She blinked, confused, and shook her head. She wondered perhaps if both she and the Doctor were mad, what with her seeing strange things that weren't really there, and him hearing noises that could probably (hopefully) be explained away fairly easily. She sighed, and turned away from the mirror to follow in the direction the Doctor had taken, walking down the corridor.

She turned the corner she had seen him go around, only to be met with a brick wall. She looked around; there was nowhere else he could have gone, and she had _definitely_ seen him disappear around this corner. Perhaps she had crossed the line from casual madness into fully-fledged deranged maniac.

But no, lifting up her hand, she discovered that the wall in front of her was quite real. The surface was rough and solid, and the red brick looked out of place in a building that was filled with mirrors and dark surfaces. She let her hand drop back to her side. 'Doctor?' she called. 'Doctor!'

She spun in a circle, wondering what the hell was going on. Her heart pounded in her chest as she ran back down the corridor and into the other side of the House of Mirrors. She screamed as loudly as she could: 'Doctor!'

There was no response, other than a very strange look from the French attendant on the door to the attraction, followed by him placing his finger on his lips in admonishment. She uttered a quick apology before dashing through the rest of the House, only to find no sign of the Doctor. Slightly out of breath and starting to panic somewhat, she ran back past the mirrors where the Doctor had done his Haglik impersonation and went back to the corner.

The wall was gone. She frowned as she noticed the Doctor standing only a little way off, tension written in the lines of his shoulders. She walked over to him. 'Doctor, what's happening?' she asked, sounding slightly hysterical.

He turned to face her. 'Rose!' he said, as though he was surprised to see her there. 'I was… I was in a room with a woman. She was playing the cello- that was the sound I heard. But now…' He trailed off, clearly not understanding what was going on.

'Did the room have brick walls?'

'What?' He shook his head and stared at her before realisation dawned on him. 'Yes, it did. Did you see one?'

She nodded behind them. 'There was a wall blocking off this corridor. I thought I'd lost you!'

The Doctor stumbled back in surprise as Rose threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He put his arms around her and squeezed her back before she pulled away and looked up into his face. 'This kind of thing isn't what I'd call normal, would you?' she asked him. 'What's going on?'

He shook his head. 'I don't know,' he replied honestly, reluctantly. He hated not having the answers. 'And here I was hoping we could have a nice, normal day to unwind.' He took out the sonic screwdriver once more and clicked it on, turning to stride up and down the length of the corridor they were standing in. 'Absolutely nothing,' he said. 'She was here just a minute ago…' He gestured to an empty space. 'Playing the cello- something beautiful, haunting. She had her back to me, couldn't hear a word I said. It was like I wasn't even there. That or she wasn't even aware of me. And then she disappeared.'

He studied Rose's face. 'I'm so sorry about this,' he said. 'But I think we need to go back to the TARDIS. Find out what's going on and see if we really are going mad or not.'

She nodded. 'Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Can hardly see us having a nice, relaxing time if we're getting more and more delusional by the minute!'

The Doctor took her hand, holding just a bit tighter than normal. Rose looked up at him to see his face set in a grim line, slight worry visible in his eyes. They walked back to the entrance of the House of Mirrors in silence, both wary and on alert for anything out of the ordinary.

-----------------------------------------

_Damien is sitting in his living room, staring at the remnants of the wine he drank last night with Airlia. Her words are still fresh in his mind; he doesn't think he will ever be able to get them out of his head._

'_I'm dangerous', she had told him. The stories she told him proved this true, and now he had two reasons to fear her. Not only does she hold his heart in her hands, but being with her could also kill him. Not because of anything she has done especially, but simply because of who she is._

_He picks up the glass she drank from last night after they had made love, swirling around the last quarter inch of deep red wine until it almost splashes over the sides before raising it to his lips and swallowing it whole. Lowering the glass, he runs his thumb over the lipstick print Airlia left on the rim. He touches his tongue to it; it still tastes like her._

_He wastes the day away, sitting and thinking. Her words repeat over and over in his head. He knows he should summon the strength to end it, walk away now whilst he still has a chance at survival without her. But Damien is weak, and he cannot bring himself to do it. And so he stays with her, drowning in the ideal of her and praying the day when he dies because of her is still a long way off._

_This is the day Damien learns that falling has become fallen._

--------------------------------------------

They stepped outside, still hand in hand. The atmosphere was charged, electric as they took in the scene before them. They didn't speak for a few moments, the silence stretching on like a cord strung with tension, just about to snap.

Rose cracked first. 'Doctor,' she said, her voice small and scared as she looked at the unfamiliar landscape surrounding them. 'Where are we?'

He frowned and shook his head slowly in disbelief. He looked back to find the House of Mirrors gone, a crumbly, derelict building in its place. He looked down at Rose, his expression stunned with shock. 'I have absolutely no idea,' he said.

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**A/N: **Hope you enjoyed! I'll give you some candy floss if you review… Next chapter up next Monday!! Thanks for reading, Jenni xx


	3. Stranger Danger

**A/N: **Thanks for all the support so far guys! It really means a lot. Enjoy chapter 3! It's a personal favourite of mine… Jen xx

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It was night time and the streets were deserted but for a man huddled in a doorway a little way away. He had his coat collar up around his face, pressing himself as far into the wood of the door as it was possible to go without actually passing through it. The sky was a smoky-looking black with pale yellow stars dotted around it, as they would perhaps look in a child's painting. The planet's low-level atmosphere made everything above the level of the buildings look slightly hazy, and a mist hovered close to the ground.

It was cold. Rose shivered, looking up at the Doctor. He was staring at their new surroundings with a look of puzzlement and incredulity, shaking his head slowly. His palm felt slightly clammy against hers as he gripped her hand tightly. She could see a slight sheen of sweat on his face despite the chilly weather. 'Doctor,' she whispered.

He looked down at her. 'This is impossible,' he said abruptly, then fell silent again.

'Where are we?' she asked, knowing what his answer would be before she had even voiced the question.

'I don't know,' he replied.

'Are we on Earth?'

There was a pause before he answered. 'No.'

'So what planet are we on?'

He sighed, exasperated and perplexed. Nervousness and unfamiliarity made his hearts pound wildly in his chest. 'I don't know, Rose.'

'But how did this happen? How _could_ it happen? Shouldn't it be impossible?' She was persistent, trying to disguise her fear by acting in control and addressing the questions that needed to be answered. It registered somewhere in her brain that asking a myriad of questions probably only made her seem even more scared than she looked anyway.

'I don't know,' the Doctor said again, gritting his teeth and his mouth set in a thin line. His mind was working at a million miles per second, and yet he was still coming up with nothing. Rose was right; this situation ought to be impossible.

'Is it to do with those things we saw earlier?'

'I don't _know_,' he replied, trying not to sound annoyed with her. He was annoyed, that much was true, but he wasn't annoyed with Rose and he knew he shouldn't take it out on her.

'Was it those blurry shapes and that crowd in the mirror? Something to do with that woman playing the cello?' She was sounding slightly hysterical now, the Doctor's hand clutched securely in both of hers. She pressed herself into the side of his body in an effort to draw some comfort.

He snapped, turning to face her and moving his hands to grasp her shoulders tightly. 'I don't _know,_ Rose! I don't have _any_ idea where we are or how we got here. I don't know how we get back- if we even _can_ get back, that is. I don't know what's going on and, to be honest with you, I have absolutely no idea what we should do now, okay? So _stop_ asking me questions you know I can't possibly know the answer to!'

He let her go as soon as he had grabbed her, whirling away from her and covering his face with his hands. He was breathing hard. Rose stared at his back, her arms hanging limply at her sides. She blinked, telling herself not to cry. She knew he didn't mean to shout at her, that he simply needed to release the tension and she'd been the most obvious outlet, but it still _hurt_. She frowned and squeezed her eyes shut. 'I'm sorry, Doctor,' she told him quietly. 'I didn't mean to… I'm sorry.'

The Doctor was silent for a few moments, and she could see his breath standing out against the frosty air of the night. She wrapped her arms around her middle in an attempt to warm herself up. The Doctor's shoulders shuddered in front of her, and he rubbed his hands roughly over his eyes before letting out a sound that was somewhere between an angry shout and a choked sob. He dropped his hands and spun back round to face her. His eyes were dazzling in contrast to the dark sky and weak starlight she could see behind him. 'No,' he said, and she was surprised to hear the gravely, raw sound in his voice. 'Don't apologise, Rose. You did nothing wrong.'

He crossed the short distance between them and gathered her up in his arms, holding onto her tightly as though she was his lifeline. 'I'm sorry,' he insisted, his mouth buried in her hair. 'I'm sorry, Rose. I shouldn't have shouted at you. None of this is your fault. I'm promise you; we're going to sort this out. It'll all be okay. Everything will be okay.' He sounded somewhat like he was trying to reassure himself of that fact just as much as he was her- if not more.

'I know,' she breathed out against his chest, the feel of his warm, solid body pressed against hers offering her some comfort as well as shelter from the cold. 'But what do we do now?'

He kept her held close against him as he looked around their surroundings once more. 'I guess…' he began. 'It doesn't seem like there's anyone around right now to help us, or to tell us where we are. So I guess we just… wait until it gets light and some people show up.'

'What about that man?' Rose asked, nodding towards the man huddled in the doorway.

The Doctor frowned. 'Where?'

She pointed. 'There.' Her voice was hesitant, and suddenly she was afraid that she was seeing things that weren't there again.

'Ah, yes! Well spotted,' he praised her. 'Well, then, let's go and meet the natives… hopefully. Perhaps. Maybe. God, I hope he doesn't kill us,' he muttered under his breath.

Rose shook her head and looked up at him. 'You're really filling me with confidence about this whole thing,' she told him sarcastically.

He grinned at her, leaving his arm around her shoulders as he steered her over to the man cautiously, making sure he walked slightly ahead of her- _just in case_, he told himself. He gripped the sonic screwdriver in his free hand as they neared the occupied doorway. 'Excuse me, sir,' he started in his politest "it's-very-nice-to-meet-you-and-I'm-a-nice-guy-but-if-you-don't-help-me-I-will-hurt-you" voice. There was no response from the man in the doorway. 'Excuse me? Sir?' he said, a little louder than before. Still no reply.

Rose sighed and shuffled as far forward as the Doctor's grip on her would let her go. One hand resting on her hip told her not to go any further. 'Hey, mate!' she said. 'You awake? We need some help.'

The man rolled over onto his back and looked up at them, a sleepy expression gracing his face for all of three seconds before his eyes widened in fright and he started breathing rapidly. 'No,' he said, his voice panicked. 'Please, I've never done this before! Please don't arrest me! Don't arrest me.'

'What?' the Doctor asked. 'We're not here to arrest you; we just want to ask you a few questions.'

'Oh God,' the man said. 'You're with _them_, aren't you? You're officials come to find out what I know. You think I'm involved with all those protests! I'm _not,_ I swear to you, I'm not!'

'Mate, mate,' the Doctor said, raising his eyebrows at the man's jittery disposition. 'I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. We're not officials.'

'You're not?' He visibly calmed.

'No.'

The man pulled back in fright. 'Then what the hell are you doing out after curfew? You'll get yourselves arrested.' He cowered into the doorway, as if trying to hide himself from prying eyes.

'Hey, it's okay,' said Rose. 'Just tell us… Where are we?'

There was a long pause before the man spoke. 'What do you mean: where are we?'

The Doctor piped up, pulling Rose closer to him as he felt her shiver with cold. 'We mean just that,' he informed the man. 'First of all, we'd like to know what planet we're on, if you don't mind.'

The man frowned in shock. 'You serious?'

'Completely.'

'You get wasted in one of the bars or something?' The man shook his head. 'Never mind, we all get like that sometimes, I guess. This planet is Eustance. We're in the vicinity of Valtallahan, about two miles out from the power district of government and finance.' He lowered his voice. 'You wanna be careful around here, yeah? And you really don't wanna be caught out after curfew. I'm sure you've heard the rumours.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'What rumours? We're not from around here.'

The man's nervous twitching was back. 'I shouldn't say anything. I shouldn't even be talking to you.'

'What rumours?' The Doctor was persistent.

'Now is not the time,' the man said. 'Listen, you two need to get off the streets; it's not safe at this time of night. You never know who might be watching… Why did you even come here, anyway? Especially at this time of night!'

'Never mind that,' the Doctor brushed the question away. He fixed the little man with a stern glare.

'Well then,' the man said. 'If I were you, I'd get inside somewhere and hide out for the night, hope that you haven't been caught on any of the cameras. If I were you- and bear in mind I'm not, and I'm not really telling you this- I'd head down this road, keeping close to the wall so there's less chance you'll be seen by the guards. I'd walk for about ten minutes until you come to Ganjud's Bar- it'll be open- and tell Ganjud that Maurice told you about him. And then I wouldn't budge until the sun is up and the curfew is lifted. And even then I'd be careful.'

The Doctor smiled at Maurice appreciatively, nodding. 'So that's what you'd do if you were us.'

Maurice nodded. 'That's right. I'd get myself out of sight and keep a low profile.'

'Right then, thank you! Except you didn't just tell us that, did you?'

'No, I didn't,' Maurice said. 'Nice to know you catch on fast. In fact, you never even met me.'

'Nope,' said Rose, realisation dawning on her. 'We're just standing here talking to thin air.'

'That you are,' Maurice told her. He mock-saluted them before melting back into the doorway, pulling the door open a crack and slipping through the small opening. 'You're telling yourselves to watch out for the guards and to make sure you don't get mistaken for renegade protestors. You're telling yourselves to get out of this place as fast as you can- as though you were never even here.'

'Oh, believe me,' the Doctor said. 'That's exactly what we plan to do.'

The door clicked shut.

The Doctor turned to Rose, moving them so that they were as flush up against the wall as they could be and still walk side by side. He took off his coat and wrapped it around her snugly, looping his arm back around her shoulders as she smiled her thanks up at him. 'Right then,' he said, a small smile on his face. 'I have a feeling we should stay close to this wall. Walk up this road for about ten minutes until we come to a bar. Tell Ganjud that Maurice sent us, and then not move for a good long time. Sound like a plan?'

Rose smiled and nestled herself more closely into his body. 'Sounds like a plan to me.' Her smile dropped. 'I don't like this.'

He nodded sympathetically. 'I know. Me either,' he admitted quietly. 'We'll sort it.'

He waited until she nodded before they started walking, heads low in case of the cameras and guards Maurice had mentioned. The Doctor gripped both Rose and the sonic screwdriver as tightly as he could, both of them lending him some comfort. 'Let's go see if there's any room at the inn.'

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_A year after Damien first meets Airlia, the atmosphere becomes very tense around Valtallahan. There is lots of civil unrest, mass protests outside the planetary government buildings and talk of martial law if the situation does not calm itself fast enough. _

_He hardly sees Airlia for three months; she is staying away from him to protect him, but it still hurts that she won't let him help her when she's in trouble. The local government has many emergency meetings about what to do, before deciding that the curfew should be introduced an hour earlier each night and putting the military on permanent red alert._

_The media and the public call for an election, the government calls for patience and obedience. Global Opposition parties start making a noise about the government's abysmal civil rights record and the fact that state executions have more than trebled in the eighteen months they have been in power, despite their election promise to act more humanely in issues of justice._

_Three weeks later, the leaders of the Opposition parties disappear never to be seen again. The global government dissolves the charter of the United Federated States and withdraws Eustance's delegates to the Interplanetary Alliance, their actions gaining much rebuke across the whole star system. Outspoken officials on other planets are mysteriously found dead. The fear of Eustance's government grows._

_The situation gets so bad that nobody dares to complain six months later when the government abolishes the democratic system and declares their regime supreme above all others, and nobody is surprised when the army begin to guard every street corner outside of the curfew hours._

_Airlia comes to Damien's apartment in tears on the day the news is announced. He hasn't seen her in weeks. They sit together on his sofa and listen to the President's address as he tells his people that on this planet, he is on a level with God. Airlia sobs in distress, and Damien feels himself growing angry with her even though he knows it isn't her fault._

'_Stop crying,' he tells her harshly._

'_I can't.' Her voice is shaky with tears and apprehension. 'I can't believe this is happening. It isn't supposed to be like this.'_

_Damien stands and looks down at her. 'Then do something about it.'_

_She shakes her head. 'I can't.'_

'_Airlia,' he says, exasperated. 'The man announcing to the world that we are at his mercy is your **father**. Can't you make him change his mind?'_

_She stands to face him, anger flashing over her lovely face. 'Do you think I haven't tried?' she cries. 'Because of course I've tried! I don't want it to be like this; I disagree with what he's doing just as much as you do.' She slumps, her shoulders sagging, deflated._

_Damien sighs. 'I know you do.'_

_She starts crying again. 'And I don't know what to do. I feel… guilty.'_

'_Don't. It isn't your fault.'_

_He takes her in his arms and holds her close to him, his own tears leaking from his eyes as she shakes against his chest. He squeezes his eyes shut, as if that can block out the knowledge of what is happening to his planet as he stands safe in his living room. It isn't as bad anywhere else as it is in Valtallahan, he knows, and this lends him some comfort. The thought of the whole planet living every day in fear for their lives sickens him. The rumours of kidnap and torture within the vicinity are rife at the moment, and the very idea of it makes him feel sick. Nobody who dares to protest against the government of Airlia's father is safe. You could be putting your life on the line just by being caught out fifteen minutes after curfew._

_This is the day Damien realises that something **needs** to change, and that he needs to take Airlia away from this place. For good._

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'Here you go folks,' the man called Ganjud said as he showed the Doctor and Rose into one of his bar's guest rooms. 'This should do you for the night. Bathroom's through that door in the corner and the heating can be controlled with this switch here.' He touched a switch on the wall next to the door to demonstrate.

'Thank you,' said the Doctor. He took off his jacket and chucked it on the bed.

'No trouble.' Ganjud bustled past them into the room and crossed to the window to close the curtains. The room was plunged into darkness for a few moments before he fumbled his way across to the lights. 'If you don't mind me asking folks, what were you doing to end up showing up here so late? When guests show up after curfew, a guy has to figure something's going on.'

Rose sat on the bed, swinging her legs over the side. 'If we tell you that are you going to arrest us and hand us over to the guards?' she asked teasingly.

'Oh yes,' he replied mock seriously. Ganjud laughed. 'Nah, none of that round here, sweetness. Especially not if you've already spoken to Maurice; he's a good mate of mine, stands up for what things used to be like before they all changed.'

'What were things like before it all changed?' Rose said.

Ganjud studied her before replying, 'Better.' He looked wistful for a moment before his cheeky grin broke out once more. 'So how'd the two of you end up here then? You decide to elope and somehow ended up on this godforsaken rock?'

'Something like that,' said the Doctor. 'We're not entirely sure. But we're definitely not from around here.'

'Yeah, I can tell that all right,' Ganjud told him. 'You don't look scared like everyone else. Well, at least not for the same reasons.'

There was a heavy pause before Rose asked, 'Is everyone human around here?'

'Most,' Ganjud replied. 'There's a few variations here and there, a few exotic genes creeping in every now and then, but Eustance is being widely claimed as the greatest human civilisation since the race began on Earth.' He regained his earlier nostalgic look. 'I'd love to go there one day.'

The Doctor frowned at Rose when she looked as though she might respond to Ganjud's comment. _Don't give too much away,_ his look said to her. The lower their profile stayed, the better, especially as they weren't planning on staying around for too long. 'I don't suppose I could be a pain and ask you what year this is, could I?' the Doctor asked, biting his lip in a way that usually made people answer whatever questions he might have.

'Sure,' Ganjud looked slightly amused. 'It's the year nine hundred and eighty three.'

'So on Earth, that would make it…' The Doctor trailed off, looking thoughtful. He frowned and grabbed his head in his hands before straightening up, eyes blazing. 'On Earth it would be the year four thousand and nine. Is that correct?'

Ganjud laughed once more. 'No idea, mate. Is that really important?'

He shrugged. 'Guess not,' he said noncommittally. 'Thank you for letting us stay here. I promise we'll pay you as soon as we can get some money.' He frowned again. 'You do have cash machines here, don't you?'

'Yeah, course we do,' he was told. 'But no rush.' Ganjud turned to leave. 'I'll see you in the morning then.'

'Yes, you will,' the Doctor replied.

Ganjud walked back across the room, only stopping when he reached the threshold of the door. 'Oh, by the way, what name am I putting down in my book? I have to have something, y'know, for the records.'

There was no hesitation before the Doctor replied, 'John Smith.'

Ganjud grinned. 'Good night then, John Smith.' He winked at Rose. 'Night, sweetness.' He left the room.

The Doctor walked across at sat next to Rose on the bed, leaning forwards to rest his chin on his hands. 'This makes no sense,' he said.

Rose shifted, kicking off her trainers and shrugging the Doctor's coat off her shoulders before shuffling closer to him so her shoulder brushed against his. 'What makes no sense?' she asked, even though she knew it would most likely involve some longwinded and complicated answer, considering the extent of the mess they were in.

'We left Earth in 1959,' he told her. 'And now it's technically 4009. We travelled 2050 years in an instant without even stepping foot inside the TARDIS. And now we're stuck here on some obscure planet the human race won't technically discover for another 1000 years with our only way of getting out stuck back in the past at a carnival in France. It makes no sense!' he said again. 'Think about it long enough and our heads will probably explode.'

'And it doesn't sound like things are going too well here, at the moment,' Rose said quietly.

'No, it doesn't,' he agreed.

'How'd you manage to work out the year back on Earth?'

The Doctor smiled and tapped the side of his head. 'Time Lord magic,' he replied cryptically. His smile dropped. 'We need to get back to the TARDIS.'

Rose prised one of the Doctor's hands away from his face and held it in both of hers, rubbing his cool skin in an effort to warm him up. 'Maybe we could get a lift,' she suggested weakly.

He laughed sardonically. 'What, you mean just catch a cab back to Earth in 1959? That would rack up one hell of a taxi fare, Rose.'

'No, I mean… The people here must've got here somehow in the first place, right? So there must be space ports and stuff, yeah? Maybe we could… I dunno; catch a rocket back to Earth.'

His face softened, pride in his eyes as he listened to her attempt to reason it all out. 'We'd still be stuck in the year 4000 and something.'

'What about the Time Agency?'

He moved his hand from hers to touch her cheek lightly. 'Clever girl,' he whispered, almost inaudibly. He sighed before raising his voice. 'But they don't officially exist and in this time they're only just getting started, at least around these parts anyway. Plus, there's almost no way they could get us back to the exact time we'd need even if they did agree to help us- which they wouldn't, by the way, can't say that they're my biggest fan- and plus we'd risk crossing back over our own timeline. We're still technically at the carnival in France, remember. We didn't officially go anywhere. It's… It's complicated,' he said. 'But let's just say that according to the laws of the universe and human error, or whatever you want to call it, it's almost impossible for us to get back to 1959 without creating some sort of time paradox at some place in the universe even if it didn't affect us directly. We're part of this timeline now, and we need to see it through. Unfortunately.'

'Oh,' she replied, not really understanding his explanation but not really caring either. 'It seems like we're still _technically _in a lot of places. How do we get back?'

'We find out how we got here and reverse it. And then we fix it so it can't happen again. It's the only way that's safe.'

Rose nodded. 'Okay. So let's get started then.'

He smiled softly. 'Tomorrow,' he said. 'We should rest first.'

They turned in unison to look at the expanse of the bed they were sitting on. It was large; easily big enough for two. The Doctor nudged Rose and she turned to look at him, finding him grinning at her with a cheeky twinkle in his eyes. 'You feel like sharing?'

His smile was infectious despite her worry. 'Sure. As long as I get the side nearest the bathroom door.'

He stood up off the bed and pulled the knot in his tie loose so that the fabric hung limply around his neck. 'Your wish is my command, _sweetness_,' he said, mocking Ganjud's choice of pet name for her. He wandered into the bathroom, leaving Rose alone with her thoughts.

She lay back on the bed, hearing the building's plumbing start to clank as the Doctor fiddled with the water in the bathroom. Her heart was pounding with adrenaline; out of all the things that had happened in her time with the Doctor, this had to be up there with the scariest and most bizarre. Not the bed sharing- that, she was secretly quite looking forward to- but the whole being stuck on an alien planet with curfews and guards and no easily conceivable way back home. Still, she thought, the company could be a lot worse. She shivered in the slight chill of the air.

'Cold?' The Doctor's voice broke into her thoughts as he came back into the room, wearing… Wearing, she instantly noticed, nothing but his boxer shorts. The heat instantly rose in her face.

'Umm, a bit,' she stuttered out, sitting up.

'I'll have a look at that heating while you go and get washed up.' He dumped his pile of clothes and shoes on a small table by an armchair on one side of the room. 'Although perhaps the temperature will rise of its own accord once we get into bed?' he teased her.

She stood. 'Are you sleeping like that?'

'Yes,' he said, amusement in his voice.

'Why?'

'Well, it's not like I thought to bring my pyjamas along on this little jaunt, is it? And contrary to whatever you may believe about me Rose, I don't sleep in my suit.'

'Right.' She crossed the room and went into the bathroom, breathing hard. She washed up quickly before resting her forehead against the cool tile of the wall in an effort to calm herself down. The Doctor was right, she thought. They wouldn't need to turn the heating up if they were going to be sleeping in the bed in nothing but their underwear. She felt her whole body blush at the thought as she downed a glass of water before heading back out into the bedroom.

The Doctor was already in bed when she came out of the bathroom, propped up against some pillows with the duvet draped over his knees. Rose felt her own knees go slightly wobbly at the sight of his bare chest. She wondered how he could be so casual about the whole thing before reasoning that his seeming indifference was probably some kind of defence mechanism, especially when she noticed the slight red flush staining his cheeks.

'You okay?' he asked when he saw her come in.

'Yeah,' she said, hovering by the edge of the bed.

He looked pointedly at the mattress beside him. 'Well, you gonna get in?'

'Yeah,' she replied. She pulled off her jacket and her socks and then hesitated. Looking back at the Doctor, she found he was staring straight ahead rather than at her. She smiled softly, before pulling off her shirt and her jeans and sliding into the bed next to him.

He turned back to face her. 'Rose, I'm so sorry about all of this. I promise we'll get it sorted.'

She silenced him with a finger on his lips. 'I know. I trust you.'

He studied her carefully as she settled her head on the pillows. 'Really?' He slid down to lie next to her.

'Yes.'

'Good.' He reached out a hand to brush her hair away from her face. 'Sleep now,' he whispered. 'And we'll fix everything tomorrow.'

She nodded, her eyelids drifting shut even as she tried to fight sleep. There was just something so… soothing about being like this with the Doctor. She felt protected, and she knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. 'Night,' she mumbled.

She was only vaguely aware of his lips brushing her forehead gently before he turned out the light and settled in next to her. 'Good night,' he whispered, his gaze still fixed on her face in the dark as he left his hand moving lightly over her hair. He wondered if he'd ever be able to bring himself to look away from her again.

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**A/N:** Well, I hope you enjoyed! This week, if you review I'll give you a chocolate covered banana. You can't say I don't make it worth your while! Jen xx


	4. Brand New Day

**A/N: **Thanks for all the reviews and support this story has being getting! Love you all… ;D From now on, updates will be on Mondays and Fridays providing all the chapters are finished on time etc. Hope chapter 4 is okay!

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The Doctor lay and watched Rose sleep beside him, leaning his back against the headboard of the bed as his hand lightly moved over her hair. They had been in this room for hours now and the sliver of sky that he could see through the gap in the curtains still failed to get any lighter. This had to be (quite literally) the longest night of at least a good few of his lives.

Rose shifted in her sleep, a frown creasing her forehead and a slight whimper escaping her mouth. The Doctor's hand stilled on her hair as she hunched up into a ball and rolled over to lie facing him. Her eyes flickered rapidly beneath their lids. 'Rose?' he whispered, as she suddenly kicked out and pushed the bed covers away. She moaned again.

'Rose,' he said, a little louder. He moved his hand to cup her cheek, his thumb gently rubbing at the crease between her eyebrows.

She went still for a moment, then her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright in the bed, the blankets slipping to pool at her waist. The Doctor did his level best to avert his gaze from her distinct lack of clothing, but really, it was hard. No matter what the species, he was still a man, and her overly lacy pink bra was just _there_ in front of his eyes. He was glad the dark of the room would be able to hide his blush somewhat.

She turned to face him, her eyes glassy. She was trembling slightly. 'Doctor,' she said, her voice shaky. Her hands clutched at the blankets that tangled around her waist.

'Did you have a bad dream?' he asked, knowing there was probably no need. It was perfectly obvious that she'd had a nightmare.

She nodded. 'Yeah.' Her gaze drifted to land somewhere in front of her, unfocused.

He hesitantly slid an arm around her bare shoulders and coaxed her back to lean against his chest, his other hand moving to rub at the slight goosebumps on her arm. He loosened his grip on her momentarily to reach down and pull the covers up around them, tucking them both in and resting her head against his collarbone. 'What did you dream?' he asked her quietly.

She paused before answering, one hand coming up to play with his fingers as they splayed against her ribcage. 'It was those things we saw earlier,' she said. 'It was all happening again, but it was permanent this time. Everything was all blurred and the people were crowding round and there was just this cello playing over the top of it all, all on its own. It sounded so _sad_.' Her voice broke. 'And then there was you and me, just stuck in the middle of it all, with no way out of this blurry crowd and no way to get back to where we came from. And that was it. The end of it all.'

And this scared her more than anything else, he knew. He kissed her head and pulled her body closer to his. He didn't let go of her for the rest of the night.

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_Damien treads carefully over the next few months. He plans his time with Airlia as though it is a military operation, and he learns to develop eyes in the back of his head at work. He treats the patients as they come in, stitching them up and saving lives as always, but he is extra vigilant about checking drug administrations and doses. There are reports of government spies infiltrating the public services and infecting opposing voices with incurable diseases. Three hospitals in the vicinity have had epidemic outbreaks already._

_He learns not to ask questions when people begin to come in mutilated, signs of torture evident in their pain and their wounds and the look they have in their eyes. They never answer his questions and he has learned that he will only get into trouble if he starts to pry. Officials are starting to appear outside of their allotted visiting hours._

_When he gets home at night, he shuts the curtains in his living room and makes plans for himself and Airlia to escape away from all of this as soon as possible. She is getting more and more stressed and more scared every time he sees her. Her brother's friend was lynched in the street the other day after he was seen leaving the presidential palace._

_Damien carefully tidies up his finances over the course of a few weeks, withdrawing Cashier's Cheques and moving his savings to an account he has set up on a small planet several light years away. _

_The violence in Valtallahan escalates. The protestor movement is gathering more and more momentum as alien worlds begin to take notice and threaten to intervene. Similarly, the army gains in strength and numbers due to help from the President's off-world friends and favours being called in. Everyone is scared. More people disappear and then reappear dead. Nobody quite knows if all the bombings and attacks are the work of the government's people or a gang of militant protestors. Nobody can decide which would be the best side to support as more and more people die as a result._

_Damien is counting down the days. He and Airlia only have to survive a few months more until they can slip away and start afresh together. Some nights he holds her in his arms and they pretend that the explosions outside are fireworks on an exotic beach, rather than car bombs outside government buildings less than five miles away. Some nights they don't pretend, **can't** pretend. Some nights he holds her whilst she shakes and cries against him, the bombs sounding closer than normal._

_And then, one night, something happens and everything changes. _

_This is the day Damien realises that this is a whole new world._

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The Doctor spent the next few hours drifting in and out of sleep, his mind contemplating his and Rose's predicament in its waking moments, and vivid dreams colouring his senses whenever he slipped out of consciousness.

He worked out that Eustance must take roughly 37 Earth hours to orbit around its sun, and that due to their positioning on the planet, it would be dark for around twenty hours of the day. Give or take, of course. He wondered how people survived here, especially with the curfew that seemed to be in place for hours of darkness. He wondered if it drove them mad.

He attempted to work out how they could get out of this mess but could see no easy way of doing it, at least not without the TARDIS. He knew that they couldn't stay here, not with all the tensions that had been so obvious as soon as they arrived here. He decided that their first call of action for the day- after breakfast and paying Ganjud, of course- would be to go back to the place they arrived at and work out how to get back to 1959 France. Should be easy for a nine-hundred year old genius Time Lord. At least, that was what he hoped.

Eventually, after far too long, it started to get light. A shaft of weak sunlight filtered through the small gap in the curtains, shining on the foot of the bed. The Doctor watched its trajectory for half an hour or so, keeping his arms wrapped securely around Rose as she lay sleeping against his chest. When the shadows in the corners of the room began to brighten with the light of the day, he moved her hair out of her eyes. 'Rose,' he said, his mouth close to her ear.

She frowned and turned against him, burying her face in his bare chest to block out the disturbance to her sleep. He hated to wake her, but they needed to get moving and the sooner, the better.

'Rose,' he tried again. He gently pried her away from his body, watching her eyelids lifting and shutting slowly as she tried to wake up. 'Time to wake up.'

'Mmph,' she moaned. 'Another ten minutes.'

He smiled, coaxing her to sit up. 'Sorry,' he said. 'We need to get going to sort out this mess.'

She went stiff then, her eyes snapping open. 'Oh my God,' she said, only a slight remaining sleepy remnant in her voice. 'I almost forgot we were here. I hoped it had all been a dream.'

He shook his head. 'No,' he replied apologetically. 'None of it is a dream. We really are here.' He grinned and adopted a teasing tone to his voice. 'We're here, in bed together,' he said. 'Wearing nothing but our underwear, in a strange hotel room.' He gasped with mock-dramatic effect. 'I wonder what we did last night?!'

Rose laughed. 'No,' she said. 'I'm still convinced it's a dream. How else would we end up in bed together?'

The Doctor coughed, surprise in his voice when he spoke again. 'You, uh, you dream about us in bed together?' he queried.

She was silent for a long moment, before a cheeky smile spread over her face. 'Oh yes,' she replied.

He knew he must be as red as a beetroot. Rose poked him in the ribs and jumped out of the bed whilst he was still in a mild state of shock. He only vaguely registered her grabbing up her clothes and disappearing off into the bathroom before something inside his brain asked him whether or not she was being serious. He couldn't decide, but he hoped that she was. He didn't even allow himself to contemplate how wrong that thought was.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, resting his head in his hands for a brief moment. He'd been dreading this all night; the time when he'd actually have to do something to fix this mess and try to get them home again. He didn't think Rose fully understood the scope of the problem, but that was okay. As far as he knew, this was an unprecedented situation and if his little theory about going back to the place where they first arrived didn't pan out then he didn't really know what to do. He didn't want Rose to know that.

He stood up and walked over to his pile of clothes, dressing methodically and double checking his sonic screwdriver and psychic paper before heading over to the window and opening the curtains. He was so intent on studying the day before him that he didn't hear Rose come up behind him until her hand pressed against his back and she appeared in his line of vision, stepping to stand close by his side.

'You okay?' she asked.

'Of course,' he replied, not meeting her gaze. 'I'm always okay.'

She smiled sadly. 'And now I know that you're not okay.' She moved her hand to slide into his, forcing him to look her in the eye. He could see the apprehension there. 'Are you scared, too?' she asked hesitantly.

He studied her for a long moment, taking some time to drink in the sight of her face washed free of makeup, a few beads of water still clinging at her forehead to make her hair damp around the edges. The water caught in the sunlight and glinted like jewels. She looked young, fresh, innocent, _worried_. He nodded almost imperceptibly. 'Yes,' he whispered. He hooked his hand beneath her chin to keep her gaze on his. 'But everything will be okay, Rose. A little fear never hurt anybody. We'll get this sorted out, home in time for tea. I promise you that.'

She nodded and flung her arms around his back, squeezing him tightly for a moment before letting go and going to sit on the bed to lace up her shoes. He looked back out of the window, looking at all the buildings and the people starting to venture outside before going to join her, pulling on his own trainers and tying them securely.

'Right then,' he said when they were both finished. 'You got everything you came with? Because I'm hoping we don't have to come back here again.'

She nodded. 'Yep.' She took his hand as they stood up and grinned at him. 'I have everything.' It was clear that she was counting him amongst her possessions, even though the tongue poking out from between her teeth told him that she wasn't been strictly serious.

'Good,' he answered. 'So let's go and sort this mess out.'

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_Damien is worried and he knows that it is showing on his face. Airlia is on the phone, trying to get through to her father. He is flicking through the channels on the television but all of them are blank. He wouldn't understand the reason why if it wasn't for the fact that he can see the dead bodies lying on the ground only a few streets away from his high-rise apartment block. He is too far away to make out any details, but he can see the familiar red of blood far too clearly._

_The hospital hasn't called and he doesn't expect them to. All of the victims are dead or dying quickly, according to the brief news report he managed to catch before the plug was pulled on the news satellites. It wouldn't be worth the effort of him going in; those already on duty are more than capable of signing off death certificates and he is sure even the most junior doctor can tell when a body blown to shreds is not worth trying to save. It wouldn't be fair on any of them._

_Airlia has finally got through to her father and she is angry. She is shaking as she clutches the phone tightly in her hand, her knuckles white and her lovely eyes rimmed with red and filled with pain._

'_Is this because of you?' she asks, and then pauses to listen to the response. If it's possible, she turns whiter._

'_Did you kill those people?' she questions the man on the other end of the phone line. 'Are you a mass murderer now?'_

_Damien watches her, his eyes never leaving her face. His heart is breaking for her._

'_You're **not** my father,' she says in response to something the President of Eustance has said. 'I can't possibly be related to a monster like you.'_

_She falls silent then, and Damien can hear the man shouting on the other end of the phone. He imagines President Camdon standing in his vast, plush office five miles away, his already red skin turning a ridiculous burnt strawberry colour. He will have a cup of coffee in his hand, Damien decides, and some of it will spill over the edges of the mug as he shouts at his daughter. _

_If he listens carefully, Damien can make out a few of the man's hollered comments from across the room and for a moment he imagines that Maximillian Camdon is merely in the next room rather than five miles and light years of morals away. The phrase 'good of the people' comes up a few times, and eventually Airlia responds with, 'Good for the people or good for you?' _

_Damien imagines the man's nose turning purple at that. He hears some more muffled yelling, the only intelligible words reaching his ears being 'twenty thousand' and 'no regrets.' Damien takes this to mean that twenty thousand people died in Valtallahan last night and that the President does not care._

_Apparently he has guessed right, because Airlia says, very quietly, 'I hate you.' And then, after a few seconds pause, 'Goodbye father.' She hangs up the phone and bursts into tears._

_Damien crosses the room in less than three seconds, holding her close in his arms. He realises that something will have to change soon, and that the time he can spend like this with Airlia is limited._

_This is the day Damien realises that he is all Airlia has. (Everything will change in three months, twenty two days and nineteen hours.)_

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They found the building they had mysteriously materialised in front of last night without much of a problem. The main problem was that there didn't seem to be anything unusual about the area, and everything about the building was normal. The Doctor was sure about this; he had measured its height, its temporal velocity, its atomic structure and its relative volume to the surrounding time and space, as well as everything else he could think of. In fact, he had checked everything twice, just to be sure.

Added to that, the building appeared to be nothing but a bombed-out, derelict baker's premises that hadn't been used in months or even years. It was just another piece of useless history in the universe; something ordinary that had now gone to ruin, something else to be forgotten and neglected by time and development. Nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary and certainly nothing to explain how the Doctor and Rose had ended up there instead of outside the House of Mirrors at a carnival in 1959 France.

The Doctor pocketed his sonic screwdriver and turned to Rose, who was leaning against a wall to the side of the building. She looked at him expectantly. 'Well?' she said.

He stared at her, his hearts hammering in his chest. How was he supposed to tell her that he couldn't find a way to get back, that there wasn't so much as the smallest crack in time and space there for him to work with? He briefly contemplated her earlier idea of trying to find the Time Agency, before pushing that idea quickly away so it couldn't tempt him. That would only draw unwanted attention to themselves in the already tense situation playing out on Eustance. He knew they couldn't do anything to alter this timeline now.

'Doctor,' Rose said. 'What did you find?' She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to tell her that everything was going to be okay and that he'd have them home in no time. She waited for him to tell her that all they had to do was walk through the door of the building with their eyes closed and then they'd miraculously be back in France, at the carnival, with the TARDIS. But he didn't.

'Nothing,' he replied to her eventually. 'I found nothing wrong, Rose.'

'Well, that's good, isn't it? If there's nothing wrong then we can just go back through, yeah? Home in time for tea.' She could tell immediately from the look on his face that he hadn't meant what he'd said in the way she'd taken it to mean, but she refused to consider it from any other angle. 'Doctor,' she said again. 'We can get back, yeah?'

He shook his head. 'No, Rose.' He took a step towards her. 'I mean that there's nothing wrong with anything to do with this building or this area. It's all stable. Everything is just as it should be. There's nothing I can do to change that, not without the TARDIS. And anyway, if we had the TARDIS then we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place, would we? There's nothing here to say that anything strange ever happened, no leftover residue from when we passed through and absolutely no sign of a carnival in France.'

She looked at him silently for a long time, breathing in and out calmly. Eventually, she said, 'You mean we're stuck here?'

He couldn't lie to her now, if only because it would be blatantly obvious that he was lying when they were still stuck here in the days/weeks/months/lifetimes to come. 'Yes,' he said reluctantly. 'For now, at least. Until I can find another way back.'

Her head dropped to her chest so that the Doctor couldn't see her eyes fill with tears. Rose had no doubt that he would eventually find a way to get back to the TARDIS- she knew he'd never let her down when he'd promised her- but she couldn't help the feeling of fear and dread that spread through her at the knowledge that they were stuck here for the time being. 'Can't you call the TARDIS to you?' she asked him, her gaze still fixed on the ground.

The Doctor walked over to her and lifted her chin to make her eyes meet his. He took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket once more and gently grasped the chain around her neck that safely kept her key to the TARDIS. He fingered the metal, one side warm from her skin and the other cool from the chill of the day. He looked back at Rose to make sure he had her full attention, and then he held the sonic screwdriver to the key, switching it on. Nothing happened and he shook his head. 'No,' he said, in answer to her question. 'We can't call the TARDIS here.'

'Why not?' Her voice was small as he tucked her chain back beneath her shirt for safekeeping.

He sighed. 'We're not supposed to be here, Rose. We're _not_ here, not technically. There must be some kind of block to keep us from the TARDIS, something out there in time and space, preventing us from getting back in the same way we arrived here.'

'You think someone planned this?'

'No,' he said immediately. 'No, I don't. I think this has all been one big, _stupid_ mistake.'

'Oh.' She nodded, feeling the tears prick at the back of her eyes once more.

The Doctor folded her into a hug, bringing her head to his collarbone so that he could rest his chin on her hair. 'But that's all it is, Rose. A _mistake_. And mistakes are easily fixed. I promised you we'll get back and we will.'

She nodded against him and bought her arms up to rest at his waist. 'I know,' she sighed and then grinned. 'Let's just make it soon, yeah?'

He pressed a kiss into the top of her head and smiled against her hair. 'As soon as we can, yes.'

'I suppose we have to go and tell Ganjud we're going to be staying another night?'

'Yes, we should probably do that,' he agreed. His mind was racing, trying to come up with a way to get out of here. 'Come on.'

He pulled his arms back from her and took her hand in his, smiling at her reassuringly (he hoped) before casting a last glance at the building that refused to yield any answers to him and heading back the way they had come.

They hadn't walked more than fifty yards when the door to a café burst open and twenty or more people spilled out in a mob, instantly tearing his hand from Rose's and sending him sprawling across the road and into a wall of the café. His head smacked against the wall, and the last thing he was aware of before blacking out was the chant and rabble of the angry mob, and the desperate sounds of Rose calling his name in a panic.

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**A/N: **All reviewers get a personalised fairy cake. :D See you Friday xx


	5. Kiss It Better

**A/N: **Thanks for all the support so far! **Warning** for reference to (almost) attempted suicide. Jen xx

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Rose struggled against the angry mob, dodging their flailing arms and clenched fists as they waved posters in the air, thrusting them in her face to try and make her understand their cause.

She called out for the Doctor, looking around frantically to try and find him. As soon as his hand had been wrenched from hers, she had been dragged to the far side of the crowd as people shoved at her to cram close together, all chanting the same thing: 'Stop the Oppression!' She had fallen at least twice, scraping her hands on the gravel road but not particularly caring as a thin line of blood began to drip down to the floor. And now she caught a glimpse of the Doctor lying on the floor by the café, his eyes closed and an oozing cut on his head.

She shoved at a man who dared to get in her way, grasping her arm and forcing a leaflet into her hand. And now she had several major paper cuts to add to her small store of injuries. She jammed the leaflet into her pocket and pulled her arm from the man's grasp before breaking away from the madness of the mob and dashing over the short space separating her and the Doctor.

She dropped down at his side, carefully taking his head in her hands and resting it against her knee. She quickly ran her hands over his body, checking for any sign of injury aside from the head wound. 'Doctor,' she said, gently pulling back his eyelids to check for signs of life, even though she wasn't exactly sure what people were looking for when they did this.

The Doctor shifted in her arms, his head moving to rest more comfortably against her thighs as she knelt close to him and cradled him protectively, sheltering him from the bits of flying rubble and debris that the mob had taken to hurling around, seemingly with no purpose. Rose vaguely noticed the crowd a little way down the street, standing and watching the actions of the mob. She didn't notice the guards that rounded the corner, weapons drawn and the insignia of the government emblazoned on their uniforms.

'Doctor,' she said again as his face creased up in discomfort and he bought his hand to his head.

Rose took his hand in hers to prevent him from touching the gash at his temple, folding his fingers around hers and smoothing his forehead with her free hand. A brick flew past her head to smash into the wall beside her, and the sounds of the mob increased.

'What…' the Doctor mumbled, his eyes flickering before opening fully to take in her face. 'Rose, why am I on the floor?'

'You fell,' she said. 'The mob came out of the café and you hit your head on the wall as they pushed past. Are you okay?'

He slipped his hand from hers and gingerly touched it to his temple, his fingers coming away covered in blood. 'I'll be all right,' he said. 'Just a little cut, looks worse than it is.'

'Are you sure?'

He gave her a shaky smile. 'Of course.'

'We need to get it cleaned up. We could go into the café?'

'Yeah, that sounds like…' He trailed off, his gaze wandering to the scene behind Rose's head. He pushed up on his elbows to gain some leverage, frowning at what he saw. 'That can wait,' he amended. 'We should get going back to Ganjud's; I'm sure he has a First Aid kit there.'

Rose frowned. 'Why?' She noticed the Doctor's gaze drifting to focus on something behind her and she started to turn her head.

'Don't look round,' he told her quickly. He sat up and leaned against the wall of the café, gesturing for Rose to stay low. The sounds of the mob began to change, cries of protest becoming shouts of pain as a troop of guards descended on them. Apparently brute force was an entirely acceptable way of dispelling crowds on Eustance. The blood that was beginning to flow from several members of the mob made the Doctor's head wound look like an ink spot on a dark shirt. 'Rose, we have to get out of here,' he said, keeping his voice low.

'Okay,' she replied, trusting. The look on the Doctor's face was more than enough to tell her he was deadly serious.

He held a finger to his lips as he stood slowly, pulling Rose up with him to stand next to the wall. Doing his best to ignore the scenes of violence in front of them, he looked around for the best way out without the guards seeing them. Spotting a small road leading down the far side of the café, he gripped Rose's wrist and tugged her behind him, pulling sharply when her gaze lingered too long on a guard beating a protestor with a large stick.

They turned into the road to walk down the side of the café and Rose jerked her arm out of the Doctor's grasp. 'Doctor, we should help them,' she said. 'Those policemen- or whatever they are- are hurting those people. Shouldn't we stop it?'

'We can't draw attention to ourselves,' he said quietly, slowing his pace slightly as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, pressing it against the cut on his temple.

'That's never stopped you before,' Rose retorted. 'Doctor, that one man… There was so much blood!'

'Rose, we don't know what those people have done. They could be supporters of whatever is going on here. We don't know that we're on the same side as them.' He pushed the guilt down, knowing that Rose was right; they probably should have stayed to help. But he knew they couldn't afford to get captured here, at least not before they properly knew what was going on. He hoped Ganjud would be able to answer some questions for him when they got back.

Rose pulled the leaflet that the man had given her out of her pocket and handed it to the Doctor. 'All their posters said "Stop the Oppression",' she said. 'And you're saying that's potentially a bad thing?'

He sighed, quickly scanning the leaflet she had handed him. 'No, that's not what I'm saying, Rose. We couldn't afford to get caught up in that in any way, especially not if the guards are more than willing to bash your head in for the slightest thing. I wasn't going to stick around to let you get beaten up for no reason, although I'm sure the guards would have found reason with this.' He waved the paper in her face. 'Did you not notice all the people watching? They weren't helping either; they were scared. Everyone else around here knows something we don't.'

She nodded, keeping her eyes lowered to the ground. 'I guess we're going to find out what's going on?'

'That we are,' he replied, reaching out to take her hand once more and frowning when she pulled away as soon as his skin touched hers. 'Rose?'

'I fell,' she said, holding her hands up so he could see the grazes on her palms. 'The road was a bit gravelly.'

The Doctor glanced back at the way they had come. 'Yeah, looks like it could do with a bit of resurfacing,' he said. He carefully took one of Rose's hands in his and stopped walking momentarily so that he could press a kiss to her palm.

'What you doing?' she asked him, her eyebrows raised almost off her forehead.

'Kissing it better,' he grinned. 'Isn't that what you're supposed to do?'

She smiled at him, despite still feeling uneasy about the situation they had just left behind. 'Yeah,' she said. 'But you're gonna have to wait until we get the blood cleaned off your head. I'm not a vampire!'

He looked at her fondly. 'Fair enough,' he said, taking her other hand in his. He bought it up to his face, carefully touching one finger to a small piece of raised flesh in the middle of her palm. 'You have a piece of gravel stuck,' he told her. 'I'll get it out when we get back to the bar; fix you up as good as new!' He settled for kissing the heel of her hand instead.

Both their arms fell back to their sides and they continued walking in companionable silence back to Ganjud's bar. Rose was amazed that the Doctor could instantly find his way down a multitude of tiny back roads despite never having seen them before. It was like he had a compass in his head, she mused, before realising that he probably did. She didn't think it would be possible to get to the grand old age of nine hundred without picking up a fairly decent sense of direction. It had probably saved his life a good few times. Hers, too. She let her mind wander on that topic for a while, deciding not to dwell on the fact that her hand felt empty without his clasped tightly around it.

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_Damien goes into work the day after Airlia says goodbye to her father forever. She is all he can think about as he walks down the hospital hallways lined with charred dead flesh and lifeless small bodies. She is all he ever thinks about, and he wonders somewhere in the back of his mind if this obsession should be considered a bad thing._

_He goes through the motions of the day, dealing as best he can with the aftermath of a truly horrific disaster. The television networks have still not been switched back on and no newspapers have been published today, so nobody knows what really happened the night before last. That is, nobody **officially** knows what happened. Off the record, everybody knows who to blame; they're just too scared to say at this early stage while tensions are still running high and there is the threat of reprisal attacks from militant protest groups, interference from the governments of other worlds and sanctions from Eustance's government a real possibility._

_Damien's day is made harder when the electricity switches off without warning. He takes a moment to stand at the window in his office, looking out over the dark city that stretches out into the wider vicinity. He can imagine people out there, children huddled against their parents, holed up in their houses and flats and apartments praying that the lights will come again, that this is not a sign of a new age of darkness beginning. _

_He is exhausted by the time he finishes for the day, two and a half hours later than normal. It is so much harder to save lives in the dark, without knowing the full extent of the problem. Three people died on his operating table today, but for once he refuses to blame himself. This is the fault of the government, he knows, and he is pointing the finger of blame at President Maximillian Camdon. _

_Eventually, he collapses through the door of his apartment, out of breath from climbing thirteen flights of stairs because the lifts aren't working in the power cut. He shuts the door behind him and rests his head against the door for a moment, his breathing gradually slowing. He knows he isn't a young man anymore, but he would have thought he could walk up a few flights of stairs without too much trouble. Obviously, he thought wrong._

_A soft weeping is coming from the kitchen and he walks towards it, knowing Airlia has stayed here today to hide from whatever onslaught may be facing the rest of her family- her repulsive, rejected family- at the President's large house a few miles away. 'Airlia?' He calls out to her, receiving a slightly choked sob in response._

_He walks into the kitchen to find her sitting in the corner surrounded by a bottle of pills tipped over to spill on the floor, a glass of water, and a large knife in her hand. She looks up at him, tears streaking down her face as she holds her hand out to him. 'Stop me,' she whispers, her body shaking._

_He strides over to her and takes the knife from her, setting it down on the table behind him before crouching down next to the woman he loves and looking at her intently. He can see a streak of blood on her arm where the sleeve of her blouse has ridden up slightly, the red liquid slowly dripping down from a thin cut just beneath her elbow. 'Airlia,' he says._

'_I'm sorry,' she says. 'I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do, I couldn't think…' Her voice cracks and she begins to sob openly, collapsing into his waiting arms to rest her blonde head against his chest and clutch at his shirt with her hands. Damien notices that her usually perfectly manicured fingernails are chipped and broken; she is beginning to come undone._

_He studies her face as she clings to him and feels his heart break a little. She is so young; too young, younger than him. Far too young to be dealing with this. He marvels at her strength so far, knowing that if he had been in her position he more than likely would have broken long ago. Give her father his credit; he had certainly brought his daughter up to have staying power. _

_He holds her in his arms until she falls asleep, when he lifts her and carries her to his bed, carefully undressing her before sliding her gently under the covers. He kisses her forehead before walking back through the dark apartment to the kitchen, tidying away the pills and the water and putting the knife somewhere he hopes she'll never think to find it. And then he pulls out his notebook, lights a candle and sits down at the table to work by the dim light, planning his escape from this living hell and dreaming of the day when he and Airlia will finally be free._

_This is the day Damien learns that everything could so easily break, and that darkness cuts so easily through the light. (Everything will change in three months, twenty one days and six hours.)_

---------------------------------------------------

'Hello again, Mr Smith,' came Ganjud's surprised greeting as the Doctor walked through the entrance to the bar, followed closely by Rose. His gaze flicked to her and he grinned. 'Hello, sweetness. What happened to you two? You look like you had a cat fight.'

'We kind of did,' the Doctor said, holding up his blood stained handkerchief. 'Do you have a first aid kit?'

'Yeah, yeah.' Ganjud waved them to a table next to the bar and bent down to rummage around for first aid supplies.

They both sat down and sighed simultaneously. The Doctor picked up Rose's hand and studied the piece of gravel lodged under her skin, murmuring a soft apology when he accidentally pressed too hard and she winced with pain. He took the offered first aid kit from Ganjud with his free hand, rooting around in the small box until he found a pair of tweezers and some disinfectant.

The gravel was easily removed with only a small amount of protest from Rose when the Doctor carefully swabbed the wound with a disinfectant wipe. He put the tweezers away and let go of her hand, grinning up at her. 'Do you want a plaster?' he asked her.

She pretended to think carefully about the decision, biting the inside of her lip before shaking her head and saying, 'Nah, I think I'll live. Now, let's get this head wound of yours sorted.'

Whilst Rose worked at cleaning the cut on his temple, the Doctor became aware of Ganjud hovering at their table. The bar was empty apart from them, and he wondered in the back of mind how Ganjud managed to stay in business if it was always this quiet. It had been deserted last night too, and they had been the only guests in the rooms available to rent. 'You okay there?' he asked the owner of the bar.

'Yeah,' came the response. 'Just wondering how you managed to get into a fight on your first day here. Thought you two were leaving, anyway.'

'We were,' the Doctor replied, sucking in a breath as Rose gently wiped disinfectant over his temple. 'Change of plan.'

'What happened?'

'Our escape route was intercepted,' he deadpanned.

'Your escape route,' Ganjud repeated flatly.

'It's complicated,' the Doctor replied. 'But now, seeing as we're going to be staying around a bit longer, we'd appreciate it if you could give us some information on the current situation around here. Because on my estimates, it doesn't seem like things are going too well. And that earlier display of police brutality didn't exactly smack of the pleasant and ordered democracy the human race always seems to be striving for. So what's going on?'

'What display of police brutality?'

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the door to the bar opening. He looked across to see Maurice enter, wearing the same shabby coat he'd had on last night.

'You again!' Maurice exclaimed as he crossed the room to stand next to Ganjud. 'Thought I told you to get out of here as quickly as possible.'

'Yes, well it's not like we haven't tried,' the Doctor replied. 'But technicalities are not making things easy at the moment.'

There were a few moments of silence before Ganjud went behind the bar to make coffee and Maurice busied himself with dragging more chairs over to the table and taking off his coat before making himself comfortable on a large padded chair. Rose finished sticking a plaster to the Doctor's temple, discreetly running her hands through his hair before sitting back down beside him, close enough for his knee to bump against hers under the table.

Ganjud appeared with a tray of coffee, setting it down in the middle of the table. He sat down. 'So,' he said. 'What was this display of police brutality you saw?'

The Doctor took a long sip of coffee before answering. 'It was up near where we arrived last night, outside a café called Bitsy's. I'm not sure exactly what happened; I was somewhat unconscious for a lot of it.' He pointed at his head and then looked at Rose.

'There were these protestors,' she filled in, suddenly feeling uncomfortable now that everyone was looking at her. 'They were saying something about stopping the oppression. Then the police, or guards- whatever they are- showed up. They just… started hitting people.' Her gaze drifted to the centre of the table. 'There was all this blood.'

The Doctor squeezed her knee under the table, before fixing Maurice and Ganjud with a piercing gaze. 'Does this kind of thing happen often?' he asked.

Neither man had to hesitate before nodding. 'Oh yes,' said Maurice. 'And it's getting worse all the time.'

'Everyone is scared,' Ganjud added. 'Everyone goes through the days scared for their lives, for their children's lives. So many die each week, and all because they simply want to be free.'

'And the worst thing,' Maurice said sadly. 'Is that this is what the people voted for. Only they didn't know this was what they were voting for. And now they don't even have the right to vote anymore.'

The Doctor swallowed some more coffee. 'Tell me everything,' he said, in the voice he knew was almost impossible to disobey.

And so they did. The Doctor and Rose sat and listened to two men telling a story of corruption and power, death and oppression. They learnt of how the government had been elected to strengthen Eustance's position within the Planetary Alliance and had instead taken to torturing its opponents and those who dared to dissent against it. They were told a story of fear and waste and dictatorship, of how the government had become terrorists to their own people, of how the people had been too scared to stand up to the nightmare they were being forced to live in. Then they were told of a backlash of protests, of the opposition gaining momentum as it gained support from other planets at the same time the government was strengthening its forces. And now there was all out war in the vicinity of Valtallahan. Every man for himself, and the violence was escalating from a series of carefully staged attacks to all out bloody battles on the street at all hours of the day- as long as it was light, of course. You could be shot for being out after curfew. Which, the Doctor and Rose now learnt, was in place for over half the hours of the day. That could be good for family bonding time, but it also gave people a lot of time to mull over their situation and plan ways to make things change.

Finally the horrific tale was over; the last major incident in the sequence of events being the night the government killed over twenty thousand people in Valtallahan with a series of carefully timed explosions. They had gone from being the people's best triumph to cold and calculating terrorists. And that had to stop.

'You two want to be careful around here,' Maurice said, leaning in conspiratorially. 'If the authorities find out you just showed up here one night and the next day got yourselves caught up with a gang of protestors, then well…' He sat back in his chair, his voice quiet when he spoke again. 'You just need to be careful.'

The silence hung in the air for a moment before Rose got up the courage to ask, 'Why, what would they do?'

Nobody answered her, the quiet in the room stretching on for over a minute before Ganjud took a deep breath and spoke. 'They'd capture you, honey,' he said. 'They'd lock you up and scare you to death. And then they'd torture you for information. Real nasty stuff, as well. Stuff I imagine your fella here doesn't want you to be knowing too much about, sweetness.' He nodded to the Doctor and was awarded with a look of appreciation from him.

'But we haven't done anything wrong,' she said. 'We don't know anything.'

'Then I advise you to keep it that way. But the authorities don't know that, and for all they know you're lying when you say you're innocent. That's what they all say. But they always break in the end; give the authorities what they want. You can't get away with anything around here.'

'Does it happen a lot?' Rose asked quietly, doing her best to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach that had started when Ganjud and Maurice had begun to tell the story and now refused to go away. 'People getting tortured, I mean.'

Ganjud nodded. 'Yeah, it does. Practically common place. You'd think we were back in the Dark Ages. So watch out, sweetness. And I'd advise you not to get into any more fights. It's horrendous what they do to people here.'

The Doctor leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head as he mulled Ganjud and Maurice's words over in his head. He was torn between the need to leave as quickly as possible and the urge to stay and help, to fight. 'Well,' he said eventually, placing his drained coffee cup alongside all the others on the table, lined up in a row like soldiers. 'Something needs to change, doesn't it?'

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**A/N:** All reviewers get an evening alone with the Doctor in the TARDIS. Enjoy. :D


	6. The Liberal Rights Alliance

**A/N: **Sorry for the lack of update yesterday but the website wouldn't let me upload anything grrrrrrr. Thanks for all the support so far guys! Enjoy the chapter :D

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_Damien sits beside Airlia on the bed as she sleeps, a frown creasing his forehead as he watches over her. She has been sleeping for hours now, her skin deathly pale and marked by tear tracks. He suspects that she has spent much of the day crying._

_He can't get his head around the fact that she thought about committing suicide today. He hates to think that if he had been only minutes later, he might have been too late. This was too close a call, he decides. Too close entirely. He curses Airlia's father for doing this to his daughter, to the people of Valtallahan, to the planet as a whole._

_Damien has often prided himself on being an upstanding, respected member of the community. His position as Chief of Cardiology at the vicinity's busiest hospital has provided for him well- he has no financial worries, a few friends in high places and the respect of everyone he meets. Now he is beginning to wonder whether any of those people are actually on his side at all, if they mean the things they say._

_His head drops back to rest against the headboard of the bed, his eyes squeezing shut and a few tears leaking out of the corners. He knows he won't sleep tonight; if he did, he'd only dream that he'd been too late to save Airlia, her lifeless body sprawled out in front of him covered in blood. He feels responsible for this. Not just for Airlia, but the whole situation that is currently playing out only a few miles from his apartment. He hasn't told Airlia that he was one of the many who voted for her father's government at the last election, tired of the old regime and liking the promise and possibilities presented by Maximillian Camdon and his party. She has always thought of him as separate from the world she grew up in and he can't stand the thought of her finding out that he was one of those who inadvertently created the nightmare situation she is now living in._

_Not that his support for the government had lasted for long, mind. He had turned against them the first time they cut hospital grants and he was faced with the task of telling his long term patients that his prices had doubled overnight. And now he hates the government more than he ever thought it was possible to hate anyone or anything. He hates them as much as he loves Airlia. He hates Maximillian Camdon most of all._

_This is the day Damien realises that some things are better left unsaid. Everything will change in three months, twenty days and twenty hours._

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The Doctor and Rose were sitting at their table in the bar whilst Ganjud and Maurice had slipped upstairs to take care of 'some business.' Apparently Maurice was an out-of-work accountant who had no money and hardly any possessions, and yet he still did Ganjud's books for free. The Doctor wondered what kind of dirt Ganjud had on Maurice to keep that little deal in place.

He looked over at Rose, attempting to catch her gaze. She kept her eyes focused on the table in front of her, her hands resting lightly on the legs of her jeans. 'Rose,' he started.

She made some kind of intelligible mumble in response, her breathing heavy.

'Are you all right?' he asked, concerned. She hadn't said anything since Ganjud and Maurice had finished their story over half an hour ago, instead sitting quietly in her chair as the Doctor had pried for more information, wanting to know everything about the opposition movements and wondering out loud how hard it would be to start a revolution. Rose had shifted uncomfortably in her seat then before coughing in surprise as the Doctor had told the two men he would do 'whatever it takes' to solve the situation in Valtallahan and get rid of the oppressive government. 'I'm a dab hand at revolutions,' he had told them. 'Piece of cake, don't you worry!' Rose hadn't looked at him since.

Now she only nodded in answer to his question and bit her lip before replying, 'Yeah, I'm fine.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'You're not fine,' he countered. He leaned closer to her, carefully taking one of her hands in his. He frowned when she pulled away. 'Rose, what is it?' he asked, his voice slightly harsher than he had intended.

Rose cleared her throat, still not bringing her gaze up to meet his. 'So I guess we're staying here for a while, then?'

He faltered as it suddenly dawned on him that he'd broken his promise to get her out of here as quickly as possible. And now he had committed them to staying here indefinitely, in the middle of one of the most dangerous situations he could possibly imagine. 'It will only be a few days, hopefully,' he responded lamely. 'Rose.' He put out his hand to catch her chin, making her meet his gaze when she tried to pull away again. 'If we find the way to get back to Earth before then, I want you to go back to the TARDIS and wait for me. I can't ask you to stay here any longer than is necessary. It isn't fair or right. I'd hate to put you in danger like that.'

'And I'd hate to leave you in danger like that,' she retorted, pulling back out of his grasp. 'Doctor, if you're staying here then that means I am as well. You'd never leave me here alone so there's no way I'm going to do that to you. Even if it does mean getting blown up in the middle of a revolution.' A wry grin flashed across her face for a moment before being replaced with her previous sombre expression.

'Rose,' he said again. He reached out and grasped her shoulders, telling himself not to care so much when she flinched at his touch. He smiled at her, hoping he'd look reassuring. 'There's no way you're going to get blown up in the middle of a revolution.' His comforting smile turned into an outright grin. 'You're going to be at the front of it all, with me,' he said, watching her carefully.

She smiled back at him. 'Yeah, okay,' she told him. Her smile dropped slightly and she looked away coyly. 'As long as I get to stay with you.'

'Of course,' he said without hesitation. He took her hands in his, running his thumbs over the back of her hands for a moment before letting go and leaning back in his chair. 'Always,' he said more quietly. And then, in his head, he whispered, _forever._

The sound of the door to the bar opening jostled the Doctor out of his reverie. He and Rose turned their heads at the same time to see a woman entering the room, half of her face covered by gigantic sunglasses despite the dim light of the day. The door clicked shut behind her as she walked across to the bar, going behind it and fiddling with the coffee machine. She appeared not to notice that there was anyone else present in the room until the Doctor cleared his throat loudly and she looked up. 'Hello!' said the Doctor. 'I realise I'm not very familiar with the rules around here, but it seems to me that this place isn't self-service.' He nodded to one of the empty chairs at his and Rose's table. 'Have a seat?'

The woman shook her head, the big sunglasses looking somewhat at odds with the surroundings. The Doctor thought that they'd be more appropriate if the woman was sitting on a stool and sprawled over the bar, nursing a hangover. 'No, that's okay,' she replied.

The Doctor stood up. 'I don't think the owner would be pleased if he knew-'

'Ganjud is my fiancé,' the woman cut in. She held up her hand to display the ring on her finger, the large diamond embedded in the band of platinum not matching up with Ganjud's faltering business.

'Congratulations,' Rose said. 'It's a gorgeous ring.'

'Yeah,' the Doctor added, somewhat sceptically. 'You could light up the sky with that thing.'

The woman laughed. 'I suppose I could.'

There was an uncomfortable pause for a moment before the Doctor walked over to the woman and held out his hand. She took it and held on for a moment before letting go. 'I'm John Smith,' the Doctor said, keeping up his earlier pretence.

'Heather,' the woman replied, reaching up to finally pull off the ridiculous sunglasses.

'And that's Rose.' The Doctor pointed over at her. 'It's nice to meet you.'

Heather was about to reply when a slight commotion erupted out on the staircase that led upstairs. All three of them turned to look as Maurice ran down the stairs, pausing only to nod at them and grab up his coat before stalking out of the bar and back into the chill of the day. Ganjud followed down the stairs slowly, clicking the fingers of one hand distractedly. He shook his head in annoyance as Maurice allowed the front door to bang shut and muttered something under his breath that the Doctor couldn't quite catch despite his amazingly fabulous hearing. Ganjud reached the bottom of the stairs and looked up, his face breaking into a grin when he caught sight of his fiancé standing behind the bar.

'Heather!' He walked over to her, putting his arms around her and holding her close.

The Doctor walked back over to Rose, pulling her up to stand beside him. He leaned down and whispered into her ear. 'Let's give them some privacy.'

Rose nodded and allowed the Doctor to take her arm, leading her outside into the cool air. She shut the door quietly, before turning to look up at the Doctor. 'Well,' she said. 'Now what?'

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_Damien is at work, sitting in his office. He finished up with his last patient over two hours ago, but the curfew has now come into effect and so he is stuck here for the night. He knows he should be sleeping- what with it being a hospital he has plenty of beds available to him- but he refuses to let himself rest despite being deeply tired._

_A television is playing quietly on the desk; all channels are once again fully operational, but the news on the attack that just over a week ago killed twenty thousand people is sparse. It seems that no one is willing to point the finger of blame just yet._

_He is laying travel plans, studying timetables of trains that will be able to take him and Airlia to a space port. He decides that it is probably best to go in the early evening, when all the commuters are on their way home. There will be more danger of bomb attacks, but less chance of being seen as suspicious by the police and guards he knows will be everywhere they go. It might seem strange if they fled as soon as the curfew was lifted, or just before it shut down for the night._

_He hasn't decided what they're going to do once they get away from Eustance though. He knows it should be relatively easy to get a rocket to take them elsewhere, and that is all that matters. As soon as they are away, then they can worry about what to do next._

_Damien pulls off his reading glasses and rubs his face with his hands. Has he ever been more tired? He doesn't think so. He's been feeling his age recently, although he isn't an old man by a long way. Middle age is tiring though, he thinks, especially when his partner is almost twenty years younger than he is. _

_He doesn't realise that he's falling asleep until he wakes early the next morning, face down in a pile of paperwork and timetables. He rises, has a quick wash, and carries on the day as though everything is normal._

_This is the day Damien realises that appearance means more than he'd like it to. Everything will change in three months, twelve days and six hours._

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The Doctor and Rose were back at Bitsy's café, eating soup and bread and talking to the owner who, rather confusingly, wasn't called Bitsy. Her name was Sadie, and she was currently chattering enthusiastically about the protest that had taken place outside earlier today.

'Oh yes,' she said in reply to something the Doctor had said. 'It happens a lot these days. Ever since that government started throwing its weight about, sending its soldiers out to capture people and torture them for petty crimes, it's all gone downhill. This used to be such a lovely place.'

'And whose side are you on?' the Doctor asked. 'I take it that you don't support the government.'

The old woman shook her head. 'Oh no,' she told him. 'I could never support policies like theirs. I'm just trying to keep my head down these days, trying to live my life while I still have it. Although,' she continued in a much quieter voice, almost confidential. 'If I had to support anybody, I'd take the side of the Liberal Rights Alliance. They oppose everything the government stands for, but they're not one of these militant groups that go round causing violent protests like the one you saw earlier. They do things the right way, the _traditional_ way.'

The Doctor grinned, ideas forming in his brain at the rate of one thousand a second. 'And what way is the traditional way?'

'Oh you know,' Sadie said lightly. 'Spend time garnering support, make their presence known without being too overt about it, and then wait until the time is right to stage a revolution, just like the good old days.' She dropped her voice again, speaking in almost a whisper. 'And the revolution would work,' she said. 'It would work, and then we'd all be free.'

'Do you know where we could find them?' the Doctor asked, his curiosity piqued at the idea of at least a semi-peaceful revolution.

The woman walked to the back of the café, turning her back on them for a moment. When she turned round again, she was carrying a basket filled with bread rolls. She came and placed them on the table in front of the Doctor and Rose, glancing furtively at the glass door leading out onto the street. 'More bread for your soup, sweethearts,' she said, nodding at the basket.

Rose obligingly took a bread roll and bit into it, the action revealing a piece of folded up paper hidden in the basket. The Doctor took the paper and unfolded it in his lap. He read the hastily written lines quickly, and then again more slowly.

_Hansley Bridge, four hours before curfew, beneath the second overhang. Codeword 'Phantasm.'_

Sadie smiled. 'There you go,' she said. 'If you're interested.'

The Doctor studied her carefully. 'It sounds like you're more involved with these people than you're making out,' he said. 'Are you sure you're not doing more than just living your life?'

Sadie's grin widened at his words, pulling out a chair to sit at the table. 'My son,' she said. 'My son is a leader in the Liberal Rights Alliance.'

'What's his name?'

'Oscar,' she replied. 'If you're going to go to the meeting, tell him his mother sent you and he'll let you right in, as long as you have the codeword.' She looked at Rose. 'Or you could just smile at him,' she said. 'He likes pretty young things.'

'Perhaps we'll call that Plan B,' the Doctor said wryly, wondering in the back of his mind when he had become so possessive over Rose. He realised that he hated it when men showed any more than just a passing interest in her, and it wasn't just because he was worried about her personal safety. Although, he amended, in this situation, he definitely was worried about her safety. They needed to get out of here, back to Earth and the TARDIS. 'Sadie,' he said, folding the paper up and storing it safely in his jacket. 'I don't suppose anything unusual has gone on here recently, has it?'

Sadie leaned back in her chair. 'What do you mean, "unusual"?'

'Anything in the derelict building next door? Anything going in and not coming out?'

She shook her head. 'No.' She grinned again. 'You're mad you are. Coming to Eustance in the middle of an all-out war and practically volunteering to put yourselves in the middle of danger, then asking strange questions about bombed out buildings. Absolutely crazy,' she said. She looked from the Doctor, to Rose, and then back again. 'And you drag her around with you for all of this? Surely that isn't right.'

The Doctor was silent, staring at some point on the wall in front of him, Sadie's words running over in his head. He knew it wasn't right that he'd dragged Rose into this situation with him, but he hadn't meant to end up here and it wasn't like they had anything else to do. Still, he knew that was no excuse. He had to keep her as safe as he could, which was why he decided that he'd be going to meet the Liberal Rights Alliance alone later. He pondered how he should tell Rose that he was leaving her with this talkative old woman for safe-keeping. He knew that she'd probably kill him, or worse, make him wish that he was dead but not actually let him die. She was good at that. He made a generic sort of sound that was somewhere between agreeing with Sadie's comment and dismissing it out of hand. 'How long does it take to get to this place?' he asked, gesturing at the piece of paper.

'About half an hour, probably longer if you've never been there before.'

'Right,' he said. 'Are you sure there hasn't been any kind of disturbances in the building next door, separate to the government attacks and violence?'

'Very sure,' Sadie clarified. 'That is, until you two started poking your noses around there earlier. What were you doing exactly?'

The Doctor kept his eyes on Rose as he answered; wanting nothing more than to pull her into a comforting hug when he saw the saddened look in her eyes. 'Just trying to get home,' he said.

The old woman studied them for a moment, before nodding and rising from the table. She walked to the back of the café, pausing in the door to the kitchens and back rooms. 'There's plenty more food, if you want it,' she said. 'I like to make myself useful.'

The Doctor nodded appreciatively as she disappeared from sight and earshot, hoping that Sadie wouldn't mind making herself useful as a babysitter for a little while. Or, more accurately, as a Rose-sitter. He wished that his coat was thicker so he would be less able to feel her inevitable punches that resulted from him leaving her behind. He rested his hand on her arm to get her attention. 'Rose,' he said softly.

She turned to him, pushing her now empty bowl and plate away. 'Yeah?'

He fumbled with the right words for a few moments, before deciding he was probably best off just coming out and saying it. _Goodbye life,_ he thought, taking a deep breath to try and calm the irrational shudder he felt pass through him. Here he was, the last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm and all-out force to be reckoned with, and he couldn't tell one young human girl that he was going to be leaving her for a few hours. 'Rose, I don't want you to come to the Alliance meeting,' he blurted, before realising how bad that sounded. He didn't want her to think that he didn't want her company.

Rose's eyes narrowed. 'You don't,' she said. 'Why not?'

Her arm tensed beneath his hand, and he wondered how much time he'd have to pull away if she decided to deck him. He sighed. 'I have to keep you safe,' he said quietly, eyes focussed on the centre of the table. 'I don't know what will happen there, what the people will be like. I can't put you in that sort of danger. Not like this.'

She stared at him for a long moment. 'But you said that we should stick together while we're here,' she reminded him. 'Stay close and keep a low profile, I think was what you said when we left Ganjud's this morning. Isn't it going to start drawing more attention if you start wandering off on your own, especially if you get yourself into trouble like you normally do?'

'Hey!' he exclaimed, slightly amazed at her ability to talk at one hundred miles an hour for so long without drawing a breath. 'I do _not_ normally get myself into trouble! I usually end up in trouble because I'm trying to rescue you, Miss Jeopardy Friendly Supreme Champion of the Universe. You're the one who finds all the trouble!'

'And whose fault is that?'

He considered that for a moment, before reluctantly conceding the point. 'Touché,' he said. He flashed a grin at her before sobering up, holding her eyes locked in an intense gaze. 'I know what I said earlier, Rose. But I promised I'd keep you safe, and I don't know if this meeting is going to be safe.'

She stared at him again, her mouth parted slightly as though she was going to say something but wasn't entirely sure what. 'What am I supposed to do while you're gone then? Go back to Ganjud's and sit on the bed waiting for you to show up?'

'Um, no,' he said. 'I want you to stay here, with Sadie.'

Rose shook her head. 'Oh no, you can't do that. She's a sweet old woman, but I can't stay here with her! She'd drive me nuts,' she hissed.

'You'll be okay,' he assured her. He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out some of the money he'd purloined from some kind of ATM earlier in the day. He pressed the money into her hand. 'Take this,' he said. 'Eat more soup, drink more coffee, just relax.'

'How am I supposed to relax when I know you're out there somewhere but I don't know what's happening to you?'

_Ah._ He supposed that might be somewhat of a problem. He frowned, turning his head away to quickly scan the surroundings outside of the café. A small shop across the street caught his eye and he pointed over to it. 'Go shopping,' he said. 'Have a look round in there; maybe buy a thicker coat to wear while we're here.'

She looked down at the thin coat she was currently wearing. 'You obviously think we're going to be here a while, then,' she said, refusing to look at him.

'I didn't say that,' he told her. 'I don't know how long we're going to be here, but that doesn't mean I want you to freeze to death while we are. Besides, bit of retail therapy might help you relax a bit. I know you love shopping!' He waggled his eyebrows at her, pleased when she giggled at his daft expression.

'All right, then' she said. 'I'll stay here.'

He studied her face intently. 'Good,' he said.

'Couple of conditions though,' she added, looking at him seriously with worry in her eyes.

'Name them,' he told her. He tightened his hand on her arm, rubbing his thumb in small circles on the fabric of her jacket.

She took a deep breath. 'Number one,' she started. 'You go straight to the meeting, do whatever it is you have to do there and then come straight back. Don't go wandering off anywhere else.'

'Understood,' he agreed, unable to keep the small smile of amusement off his face. He wondered if she knew that she sounded somewhat like him when he was in lecture mode, telling her not to wander off in places she didn't know. He suspected that she did.

Rose continued on. 'Number two; you tell me everything when you get back, _don't _leave anything out. I want to know all about it.'

He grinned wider. 'Of course.'

'And number three.' Rose grinned, making the Doctor slightly nervous about what she was going to request of him. He hoped she didn't want him to strip to the waist and do an Irish jig on the table as penance for abandoning her. Not only would he look silly, but it was also freezing in this place. 'Number three,' she repeated. 'Once we get out of here and back to the TARDIS, you have to take me to the most amazing shopping centre in the whole of the Cosmos so that we can shop for the whole day. And you're paying.'

'Ri… Right,' he said falteringly. He supposed he could cope with that if it meant she didn't do anything that made him wish for regeneration in the current circumstances. 'Wait, we _both_ have to shop for the whole day?'

'Yep!' she said. 'That's your punishment for leaving me behind. You can't just stand there holding the bags, mister! You have to buy stuff too.'

The Doctor made a mental note to never leave Rose behind again unless it was a supreme emergency. Being designated coat-and-bag holder he could deal with, but actually having to _shop_ was another thing entirely. Unless it was for bananas, of course. He inwardly cursed himself and wished that there was a metal brick nearby for him to bang his head against. Perhaps he could find one on the way to this Alliance meeting.

'Okay then, that's settled,' he told her.

She held out her hand and he shook it to seal their deal. He smiled at her softly, her hand still encased in his. 'It will be okay,' he said. 'I'll be as quick as I can, I promise.'

'I know,' she said, reluctant understanding clear in her eyes.

'I'll be back before the curfew starts,' he promised, rising from the table to do up his coat.

Rose nodded, her teeth toying with her bottom lip in that strangely cute-but-shouldn't-be way she had. The Doctor bent down and kissed the top of her head. 'Suppose I'd better go then,' he said, glancing towards the door and the sub-zero temperatures of outside. He winked at her. 'Don't wait up!'

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**A/N:** All reviewers get a glow in the dark phone holder. Or something else equally cool. See you Friday! Jen xx


	7. Sweet Revolts

**A/N: **Thanks for all the support guys! It means a lot that you like this :D

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The Doctor fixed his gaze on the road ahead, struggling to stop himself from turning around and running back to the café and Rose. He could imagine her sitting there now, being talked to death by Sadie and eating her way through the cakes in the display case at the back of the small shop. He couldn't decide whether he envied her or not.

He walked down the dusty road, keeping his gaze inconspicuously lowered just like every other person he passed. He scuffed his shoes along in the gravelly, sandy surface, wondering if the human race had forgotten how to make tarmac since migrating to Eustance. He wondered if they'd also forgotten about liberty and rights, and all those other things people devoted their lives to fighting for back on Earth in Rose's time.

Although he never would have admitted it to anyone- except perhaps Rose in a moment of drunken confession- he was more than a little nervous about going meet the members of the Liberal Rights Alliance. He knew that he should feel invigorated that people were trying to make a peaceful attempt to right the wrongs that they'd been forced to suffer for so long now, but he was still rather wary about the whole thing. After listening to the story Ganjud and Maurice had told him and Rose earlier, he was somewhat sceptical of everyone he met on this planet. He had only willingly left Rose with Sadie at the café because he knew that Rose would have no problem taking the old woman down with a single punch if it came to it and, as friendly (and engaged) as Ganjud seemed, the Doctor just couldn't bring himself to trust the man with Rose.

He turned left onto another street after a quick and discreet consultation of a road sign, an arrow pointing the way to Hansley Bridge. He slipped his hand in his pocket, gripping the sonic screwdriver tightly as he walked on. He debated momentarily if he perhaps should have left it with Rose in case something happened, before reasoning that it probably would have in someway invalidated her conditions for going to this meeting without her. He knew that she only wanted him to be safe, like he would want her to be. He hoped that she was safe back at the café.

The Doctor could see the bridge in the distance now. It loomed up against the skyline, the tops of some official-looking buildings barely visible behind it. He guessed that they would be high-security government buildings from the anti missile (or missile firing, whichever) devices protruding from their roofs, sweeping in a slow circle across the vicinity. He walked past a pretty-looking park that stretched on for acres to his left. He made a mental note to take Rose there if he could to try and make this stay at least somewhat more pleasant. It would be especially apt, he thought, as there as a fenced-in rose garden visible in the middle of the park. He thought that she might appreciate the slight irony of it all.

He walked on unobtrusively, nodding when people glanced at him as they passed but otherwise not making contact with anyone. For a few moments he was reminded of the terrible loneliness of his life, and all the years he had spent all on his own. An ache ripped through his chest, one that he suddenly realised he had not felt since the day he had met Rose. He refused to analyse the meaning of that though, at least not now. It wouldn't do for him to get into a self-deprecating, melancholy funk prior to revolutionising a planet. He also refused to analyse the fact that the piercing ache disappeared as soon as he thought of Rose. He decided that no good could come of it in the present circumstances. He would consider it later, when they were back at the TARDIS and safely floating through endless, impersonal, companionable space.

Twenty minutes later and he was leaving the tranquillity of the park behind him to emerge into a concrete jungle. He followed the footpath beneath a complex road network that from above reminded him of Spaghetti Junction back on 21st century Earth. Coming out on the other side, he saw Hansley Bridge straight in front of him. It stretched on for miles into the distance, leading out of the vicinity of Valtallahan and into the next province along. Huge sealed-in archways decorated it, some of the signs plastered to them belonging to building companies and private storage firms. He guessed that the space beneath the bridge was available to rent and that the Liberal Rights Alliance was hiding out in the second archway along, probably under the guise of a fake business. Or, the Doctor mused, perhaps the business was real, and the Alliance made use of its profits to fund their campaigns.

He ignored the nervous pulsing of his stomach as he approached the second archway, noting that the only visible entrance/exit was a small door near to the edge of the arch. All the posters on this part of the wall advertised a removals firm, and the vehicles parked close by agreed with this story.

The Doctor came to a stop next to the door, glancing around to check for any signs of life. A van drove off at the other end of the bridge, and a man emerged from one of the other archways carrying a roll of carpet. Nobody paid him any attention.

Raising a hand to the door, he tried the handle but wasn't surprised to find it locked. Sighing and grimacing with an I-really-don't-want-to-do-this expression on his face, he pulled back slightly and knocked softly on the heavy wood instead. His hand tightened its grip on the sonic screwdriver.

There was silence for a few moments before the Doctor became aware of a shuffling behind the door, followed by the unmistakable clanking of locks and chains. 'Who's there?' a deep voice asked from the other side of the wood.

'Is that Oscar?' he asked carefully.

Another pause followed before the voice behind the door cleared its throat and questioned, 'Who wants to know?'

'Your mother sent me,' the Doctor replied. 'She said there was a meeting.'

Oscar sighed heavily. 'I need you to tell me the codeword before I can let you in,' he said. 'But don't shout it out too loud; anyone could be listening around here.'

'Phantasm.' The Doctor shuffled on the spot, pulling the piece of paper with the information Sadie had given him out of his jacket pocket. 'She even wrote it down for me if you want to check the handwriting.'

More shuffling could be heard from inside the archway before the door was cracked open a few inches. The Doctor could just about make out a man in the dim light beneath the bridge, and he held the paper out to him. The man- who he was assuming to be Oscar- took the paper and studied it carefully for a moment before gesturing for the Doctor to go inside. 'I suppose you should come in then, my friend,' he said. 'It's good to have your support for our cause.'

The door opened more widely and the Doctor stepped through. 'It's good to meet some like-minded people,' he replied carefully.

Oscar shut the door, sealing in what little light there was in the small box room. There were no windows. He held out his hand and the Doctor shook it. 'What do I call you?' Oscar asked him.

'I'm the Doctor…' He trailed off. 'Uh, Doctor John Smith,' he amended.

Oscar grinned widely. 'Ah, a Doctor in our midst!' he exclaimed. 'That could come in very handy! Come and meet the rest of the crew.'

The Doctor nodded and followed the man through another door and down a short corridor. The sounds of traffic from the bridge could be heard coming from above. They reached a metal wall with a security door in the middle. Oscar entered a code into a small touchpad set to one side and the door slid open. They walked through and it shut automatically behind them, locking them into a huge, open plan room.

The room was enormous, the walls were lined with placards denouncing the government and other planetary organisations, and a group of around twenty people clustered in the middle, talking amongst themselves. 'I thought there would be more people than this,' the Doctor remarked.

'There are,' Oscar told him. 'These are just the leaders of the Alliance. Each of these twenty-two people is responsible for retaining the support and assistance of four thousand other people. That amounts to the better part of one hundred thousand people in the vicinity of Valtallahan who support our cause, and that doesn't include the numerous other groups that have formed in protest to the government.'

The Doctor whistled long and low. 'That's pretty impressive,' he admitted.

Oscar laughed. 'It is. And now,' he said dramatically. 'With the help of all those people, we're almost ready to start the revolution. Care to help?'

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_Damien is taking Airlia out tonight. He wants to show her that life can still be fun, and that nothing has to change in their relationship. He is taking her to the restaurant where they had their first date, has bought her flowers, and there is a brilliant diamond ring in the breast pocket of his jacket._

_He wants to ask her to marry him, and he his hoping that tonight will be the night he finally gets the guts up to ask the question. He has spent the day dreaming of a small ceremony on a far off planet, somewhere light years away from the current conditions in Valtallahan. Small but special, he thinks._

_They arrive at the restaurant arm in arm, the way they used to do before Airlia became scared that she was putting Damien in danger by being close to him in public. He has finally managed to convince her that he doesn't care; all he wants is to be with her, and it is only a select few people who know her true identity anyway._

_He is reminded just why he adores Airlia so much as they sit and wait for their food, chatting animatedly just as they used to do at the beginning of their relationship. She tells him funny stories about her work, about how two days ago she accidentally stapled her jacket to the desk and didn't realise until she stood and attempted to walk away. She shows him the bruise she received when the fabric ripped and she went stumbling into a wall._

_The time passes quickly- too quickly- and all too soon Damien is asking for coffee and the bill. His heart has been pounding all evening, and now he thinks that it must be so loud Airlia can hear it thumping away from her position across the table. When she turns to fumble in her bag for a moment, he checks his inside pocket to make sure the ring is still there. He reaches in to take it out._

_A waiter comes over with the coffee and the bill, setting the items out on the table in front of them. Damien lets go of the small velvet box, letting it fall back into the depths of his pocket and a thin sheen of perspiration breaking out on his forehead. He can't do it. He isn't brave enough to be able to pick himself back up if she says 'no'. Perhaps he'll save it for a night when he has had more to drink, or perhaps for his death bed._

_He curses himself for not being able to tell the woman he loves more than life itself that he wants to stay with her forever. Airlia smiles at him over her coffee cup, taking his hand in hers. 'I love you,' she tells him softly. 'I don't tell you that enough, but I want you to know that I do. I love you.'_

_Damien falters, wondering if perhaps he could ask her to marry him after all. A moment's consideration is all it takes to decide that he can't do it. She would only worry that she was putting him in more danger by binding him to her in that way. He will ask her once they are away from Eustance for good. He smiles at her softly, happiness rising in his chest at the love and warmth he sees in her eyes. 'I love you too,' he says._

_This is the day Damien learns that some things are worth waiting for. Everything will change in two months, twenty-seven days and thirteen hours._

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Rose handed over some of the money the Doctor had left her with, exchanging it for a thick black coat with a thermal lining, and a pair of gloves for the Doctor. She thought that he might start to get the hint about how cold his hands were sometimes; it was like holding hands with a snowman on occasion.

Glancing back at the café, she could see Sadie pottering around and serving coffee to a mother who was rocking her baby's pushchair slowly back and forth. The baby's cries could be heard from across the street. Rose was glad she'd decided to leave and go shopping as soon as the new customers had entered the shop, slipping away as Sadie bent over the pushchair, cooing at the baby and inadvertently making her cry.

The shop assistant handed over her change- a few oddly shaped coins and one bank note that bore the face of the President, Maximillian Camdon. Studying the man's face before putting the money back in her pocket, Rose would never have taken him for a dictatorial arsehole. He looked too normal to be the mass murderer Ganjud and Maurice had depicted in their story earlier.

'Could you cut the tags off the coat for me?' Rose asked the girl behind the counter. She looked at her watch while she waited, wondering how much longer the Doctor was going to be. It had been over three hours already, and there was only a few more hours before the curfew kicked in for the night. And, as much as she appreciated the old woman's hospitality, Rose didn't particularly fancy spending the night with Sadie. She decided that she'd give the Doctor another couple of hours before heading back to Ganjud's bar, where at least she could fall asleep on the bed while she waited.

She smiled at the shop assistant as she handed the coat back over to her and passed her the gloves in a small bag. 'Thanks.' Rose pulled the coat on over her thin jacket, instantly feeling the benefit of the extra warmth it offered. She stored the gloves in one of the huge pockets and wandered over to the full-length mirror on one side of the shop, admiring the way the coat fit her. Not usually one to be overly vain, Rose had to admit that the coat made her look good, moulding itself to fit her frame and the cut of the collar suiting her better than anything she already owned. She had to admit that, whatever problems might be currently hindering the human race on Eustance, they had at least done a good job with the fashion. Almost everyone she had seen since arriving here had been impeccably dressed and styled.

Thanking the assistant once more, Rose left the shop. She wandered back over towards the café, before veering off to the derelict baker's shop to the left of it. She stood looking up at the crumbling building, bullet holes visible in the brick work above the door and streaks of something she hoped (but suspected) was blood stained the wooden frame of the door. Glancing along the floor, she could see the Doctor's blood on the ground from where he had fallen earlier. She shivered at the sight of it, hoping he'd be back soon so she could know that he was safe. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and squeeze him tight, then never let go of his hand again.

Rose wandered along the length of the baker's premises, running her hand along the wall and studying the small cracks for abnormalities, still hoping that one of them would be the way back to Earth. Finding nothing but war-weathered brickwork and some small ten-legged creatures she didn't recognise, she sighed and straightened, coming back to stand in front of the rotting wooden door.

The door opened easily when she pushed against it with all her weight, swinging inwards to the musty room inside. Rose glanced around her, making sure nobody was watching her. She dropped down and picked up a sharp rock from the floor, its edges digging into the soft skin of her palm. She took a deep breath and walked forwards, entering the long-ago abandoned bakers' shop.

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The Doctor was sitting on a chair in the large meeting room of the Liberal Rights Alliance. Oscar had introduced him to the other leaders of the Alliance, and they had collectively told him of how they had been planning a revolution for months, garnering donations and physical help from their members in their quest to annihilate the government. And now the time for the revolution was nearly upon them. It had only taken some light persuasion from the Doctor to get them to bring the date of the revolution forward by a month, and now he was trying to talk them into staging it tomorrow. The sooner the better, as far as he was concerned. He could liberate the planet, find the way back to Earth and then take Rose away from here as quickly as he could. And, with the help of one hundred thousand-plus people, he didn't think that overthrowing the government should be too tall an order. With that amount of help, he could probably do it in his sleep.

'We'd have the element of surprise,' he told the leaders of the alliance. 'If you stage a revolution in a month or two months, that gives the government a lot of extra time to find out what you're planning. You want to do it now whilst they know nothing of your plans or the level of your support. Would it be possible to mobilise that many people on such short notice?'

There was a silence before a man named Hugo coughed and nodded. 'Yeah,' he said. 'We have a telephone chain for these types of things. Whenever we have the revolution, we'd never tell the mass membership about it until the day before anyway. Too risky if everyone knows a long way in advance. There are a couple of hundred that we'd call in to prepare everything, and then everyone else would find out by telephone call overnight.'

The Doctor nodded, carefully appraising the men in front of him. They were obviously competent and he had no qualms about leaving them here to take care of the preparations whilst he went back to Rose. He liked them; they believed in their cause and whilst they were willing to do everything they could for freedom, they wanted to do it with as minimal bloodshed as was possible. Which, as far as he was concerned, was the best possible way to go about it. He leaned forwards, resting his chin on his hands as his elbows perched on his knees. 'Well then,' he said. 'What are we waiting for?'

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Rose jumped as the door swung shut unexpectedly behind her, disturbing the dust that had gathered in every crevice and corner during the time the building had fallen into disrepair. She turned a full circle, taking in all the details of the room. When the Doctor had poked his head in here earlier, he'd told her that everything was normal about it and there was no need for further investigation. Walking into the baker's shop wouldn't get them back to the Hall of Mirrors at the Carnival in France, he had told her.

She had believed him earlier- still did, in fact- but Rose decided that there was no harm in a little investigation of her own. It wasn't like there was anything else to do while she was stuck waiting around for the Doctor to get back from his revolutionising jaunt with the Liberal Rights Alliance. She'd only end up having her ears talked off by Sadie while stuffing herself full with chocolate cake, which she'd already eaten too much of in an effort to keep the old woman quiet.

Walking forwards towards the back of the shop, Rose trained her eyes to the dim light as the sky gradually began to darken outside. The shop stank; mouldy old loaves of bread that had obviously been abandoned in a hurry still adorned the trays of a display case and a damp patch near a hole in one corner of the room told her that the rain had got in. That, or small animals had moved in as the humans had moved out. Never one to like mice and rats, she hoped that the damp was due to rain.

She made a careful study of the front room of the shop before turning her attention to the door that she knew would lead out to the back rooms, just like the one in the café next door. She wished the Doctor was here with her right now to hold her hand and tell her that everything was okay as she reached out to grasp the door knob tightly. Although, she thought, if the Doctor was here now, he'd be the one opening the door instead of her; putting himself between her and any danger that might be lurking in the next room. He was wonderful like that, always taking care of her.

Rose turned the door handle, frowning when it failed to open. She turned it the other way just in case, but it still stayed firmly shut. She knelt down, studying the tiny space between the door and its wooden frame. She could tell just from looking that it wasn't locked; it had an old-fashioned locking mechanism and she could see quite clearly that the door had merely been pulled shut when the last person had walked through it. It looked like it hadn't been touched for years, and so she wondered if perhaps it had become stuck or rotted in some way so that it was jammed in the frame.

She stood, grasping the handle once again as she launched her weight at the door. It shifted slightly but still didn't open. She frowned; this shop had pretty much the same layout as Sadie's café, and she knew that the door in there would have given easily if she'd jumped into it. It made no sense that this door would now refuse to open when the Doctor hadn't even had to contemplate using the sonic screwdriver to open the front door this morning.

She could hear the Doctor's voice in her head, telling her to leave it alone and go back to the safety of Sadie's café, let the old woman feed her more cake and give her more coffee and juice, perhaps ask if she could use a bed to sleep for a while. She could bring the Doctor here later and he could do something to open the door. But, if truth be told, she was still somewhat annoyed at him for abandoning her earlier. Not only were they on a strange planet that seemed to be at war with itself, but she didn't even have the safety of the TARDIS to run back to if it all got to be too much. And so the Doctor would just have to forgive her for taking matters into her own hands in his absence.

Rose stepped back and took a few calming breaths, trying to channel her energy so that she could give this her best shot. She let the small sounds of outside filter through her before tuning them out and focusing on the beat of her heart like the Doctor had taught her to do. She let her muscles relax, shaking out her arms slightly before letting her eyes slip closed momentarily.

Opening her eyes again, she took a deep breath and ran straight at the centre of the door, crashing into it and tumbling through the opening as it finally released and swung open into the back room.

She picked herself up from the ground, shaking the dust from her hair and brushing it where it had settled on her coat. Her vision righting itself after the slight head rush of crashing to the ground only seconds before, Rose blinked and focused her gaze on her new surroundings.

She stopped dead.

Her heart pounded madly in her chest and her breath came out in frantic pants but she paid it no mind. She stared at the sight in front of her, spellbound and aghast and terrified all at the same time. This was not what she had thought she would find back here, not by a long shot.

She was standing at the edge of a gigantic circular room that was easily the size of a large auditorium or concert hall. The vast space was empty, but the walls were lined with hundreds of doors of different sizes. Some were ancient and crumbling like the shop she had thought she was standing in, but some were modern, new, framed in metal and made out of substances she couldn't easily put a name to.

Turning a full circle, she found that the door she had just broken through was shimmering around the edges, a force field surrounding it that made her skin tingle when she touched it. Every sound she made echoed fifty times over in the huge empty space. She stared in shock at the doors far too numerous to be part of a humble baker's shop; far too mystical to be part of this world at all.

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'Well then!' the Doctor exclaimed as he walked towards the exit of the premises beneath Hansley Bridge, acting as though he was simply arranging a social gathering rather than a revolution. 'I guess I'll be seeing you fellows at the same time tomorrow!'

'Indeed you shall,' Oscar replied, grasping his hand and shaking it warmly. 'Tomorrow shall be a very good day.'

'Ah, don't doubt it for a second!' The Doctor grinned at the men behind him and walked away whistling to himself, back in the direction he'd come in earlier. He walked briskly, partly to stave off the cold as night began to descend, and partly to get back as quickly as he could. He'd been longer than he'd expected, and he was determined to wrap Rose up in a big bear hug as soon as he laid eyes on her again. He only hoped that she hadn't managed to get herself into trouble whilst he'd been away.

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**A/N:** Ahh cliffhangers, don't ya just love them? Next part on Monday! Please review if you have the time! (I'll send you a nice snuggly e-hug if you do :D) Jen xx


	8. Behind Closed Doors

**Warning** for assault, angst and angry Doctor.

**A/N: **I just want to apologise in advance for this chapter. I don't know what I think of it but it just sort of happened and then… Well, I'll let you judge for yourselves. Let me know what you think!

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Rose took a shaky step backwards, her breath hitching in her throat as she studied the scene in front of her. Her eyes flicked wildly all around the room, and she wished like crazy that the Doctor was here to explain everything to her and offer reassurance that everything was okay.

She still clutched the rock from outside in one hand, and she turned now to place it in the open doorway that led back into the baker's shop in case the door decided to swing shut and trap in here in this mysterious room full of doors. It was times like this she wished that the Doctor carried a phone on him so she could call him and ask him to come. Actually, it was at times like this that she wished she had listened to him and not gone wandering off. But still, she thought, there was nothing to say she couldn't do things on her own. She was entirely capable of working out this mystery without the Doctor there to prompt her.

She walked to the middle of the open space, only now realising that the floor was made of expensive marble and yet it shimmered as though it was liquid. She looked up to study the ceiling, only to find it pitch black far above her head and pinpricked with tiny silver stars that shone as brightly as they did in space. It looked beautiful.

A smile spread across her face as she looked back down at more temporal objects and swung her gaze over the myriad of doors that surrounded her. She didn't know what this place was, but she would have bet a hell of a lot that it could help them get back to Earth once they'd finished revolutionising and saving the planet. Rose walked over to one of the doors on the far side of the vast room, stopping a few metres in front of it.

It was a big door, and more modern than a lot of the others that surrounded it. Its frame was made of a mesmerising jet black wood that shimmered like the floor of the room and the door itself was made of a golden version of the same material. She reached out hesitantly and ran her hand over it; the surface was smooth and cold like glass but the sparkling particles inside it moved beneath her hand as she pressed down more firmly. Rose moved her hand to the door's handle, holding it lightly and daring herself to open it. She knew that she should turn back now, go and find the Doctor and leave this place alone until she could come with him, but something stopped her from leaving. She wasn't sure if it was still annoyance at his leaving her, the desire to do this on her own without his help or if it was just pure temptation. She supposed that it was probably all three. She turned the handle and the door opened easily.

Inside the open door's frame was dark, but it was obvious that there was something there. A sort of grey light was shimmering, and shouts and laughter could be heard spilling out of the entrance. Something darted past the open frame but it was too quick for Rose to be able to tell what it was. The whole effect reminded her of the carnival in France, when everything had gone blurry and it had been there but yet it hadn't at the same time. She took a breath to calm her nerves and her racing heart and then, with a quick glance back at the way she had come, she stepped over the threshold of the door. It quietly clicked shut behind her.

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The Doctor couldn't decide whether he should feel relieved or agitated as he neared Bitsy's Café once more. He was almost back with Rose now, but he couldn't help the nagging feeling in his chest that all was not as it should be. He quickened his pace as he walked up the road, suddenly all too aware that the sky was darkening and the streets were beginning to empty. A quick consultation of a shop sign told him that everything would be closing up in just over half an hour so that everybody had time to get home before the curfew began for the night.

He was breathing hard- partly from exertion and partly from stress and worry- as he reached the café. He gratefully pushed the door open and scanned the room. Sadie was alone behind the counter, just as she had been earlier in the day when he and Rose had first arrived.

Sadie looked up as the Doctor entered. 'Hello, sweetheart,' she said. 'How did it go?'

'All right,' he replied distractedly. He walked over and rested his palms on the countertop, leaning over and fixing Sadie with a stare he knew made people give him what he wanted. 'Sadie, where's Rose?' He berated himself for not being able to keep the slight tinge of panic out of his voice.

'I don't know, love,' she replied. 'She left earlier, went over to the clothes shop for a while but when I looked over again she was gone. Haven't seen her since.'

The Doctor had to make a conscious effort to keep his breathing normal. He should have realised that if Sadie would have been no trouble for Rose to take down if she needed to, she would also be relatively easy to escape from. 'When was this?' he demanded.

She shrugged. 'Around an hour ago, I suppose. But don't worry sweetheart, I'm sure she'll turn up! Do you want some coffee?'

'No,' he replied shortly. 'I have to find her. She's not safe out there on her own. Are you sure you have no idea where she is?'

'None at all,' Sadie replied, sympathy in her eyes for this man who had obviously lost something very precious to him. 'Perhaps she went back to where you're staying?'

The Doctor spun round and leant against the counter. It was possible that Rose would have headed back to Ganjud's bar when it started to get dark. She might have thought the curfew was starting, he reasoned. She wouldn't have understood the length of Eustance's orbit and the fact that it took a lot longer to get dark here than on Earth. But, he thought, she would have left a message with Sadie if she was going anywhere. Wouldn't she? He turned back to Sadie. 'I'm going to try and find her,' he said. 'If she shows up, make her stay here. Give her coffee, give her cake. Anything to make her stay put, okay?'

The old woman nodded. 'Of course. But I'm sure she'll be fine.'

He nodded in reply. 'Probably.' He pulled a bank note out of his pocket and placed it on the counter before saying a distracted 'Good bye' to Sadie and stalking out of the café, not caring when the door banged shut loudly.

He shivered in the cold night breeze, spinning in a full circle as he searched for any sign of Rose. In his haste, he missed the newly disturbed rubble by the side of the derelict bakers' premises and didn't even notice the stench that had drifted out when Rose had opened the door earlier. Sighing, he reluctantly turned and started on the walk back to Ganjud's bar, knowing that if he didn't find her there he would more than likely go insane. He cursed the curfew, knowing that it would be that which prevented him from finding Rose, limiting the time he could spend searching for her tonight. For good measure, he called out for her twice before he was out of sight of the café, but there was no sign of her. He told himself that the tightening in chest was due to the cold chill in the air rather than the onset of panic and loss.

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_Damien has finally told Airlia about his plan to take her away from Eustance and start afresh with her somewhere safe and warm and clean and homely. She listened to all of his plans in silence, before studying him carefully and asking, 'Are you sure you want to do that?'_

_After much reassurance that it is indeed what he definitely wants to do, she smiled at him and jumped on top of him, wrapping him up in a big bear hug. They laughed and rejoiced together for a while before the news came of another staged attack._

_This time, it is protestors rather than the government who have acted in their cause. The scenes on the television show members of the Liberal Rights Alliance blockading Hansley Bridge, stretched out in a line across its centre and blocking the flow of traffic. However, whilst this is the story that dominates the news headlines, the view from Damien's apartment tells a different story._

_He can see the carnage from his living room window, an exploded car blocking a road that is less than a mile from his apartment building. He will later discover that the dead man is the Minister for the Military and Defence, a key ally of President Camdon's. He cannot bring himself to be upset about it._

_Meanwhile, Airlia is laughing at the television as the Liberal Rights Alliance continue their vigil on Hansley Bridge, shouting abuse at a television news cameraman as he attempts to push through their line to get a shot from the other side of the bridge. One protestor tells the cameraman he'll have to take the long way round. Damien is glad that there is at least still some humour in the world, even if it does have horrendously dark overtones. Chalk one up for the opposition, he thinks_

_This is the day Damien realises that everything could potentially be okay. Everything will change in two months, twelve days and seven hours._

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Rose pressed her back up against the rough brick wall, wishing she could just melt away and re-materialise safe in the Doctor's arms. The door had vanished as soon as she had stepped through it, and now she had to make a conscious effort to keep herself from hyperventilating. It was broad daylight in front of her as opposed to the dimming grey skies she had just left behind, and she didn't have to ask anyone to know that she wasn't on Eustance anymore.

The weather was warm, although not as warm as it had been back at the carnival on Earth, and there was no need for her to be wearing the big black coat anymore but she still kept it buttoned up, clutching at the lapels like a security blanket.

She appeared to be standing outside a museum, facing into what she guessed was a tourist-filled square. The people here were mostly human, but many of them looked exotic enough to have other species thrown into their gene pool as well. Many people held guide books, but they were too far away for Rose to read the titles. She started to panic, a myriad of thoughts flying through her mind but none of them sticking or making any sense. She didn't notice the two men staring at her from across the square as she turned and dashed down the side of the museum.

Not caring about the strange looks she was getting from passers-by, Rose ran her hands over the wall of the museum. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she knew enough to know that she was well and truly on her own out here, that the Doctor wasn't coming for her because he didn't know where she was. Even if he found the room of doors and guessed that she'd gone through one of them, how would he be able to tell which one? There were hundreds of them there and chances were he'd never find her, especially if he managed to get himself trapped on some random alien planet as well.

Her mind was reeling. She truly didn't understand this situation. First they were on Earth, in France at a carnival, in the House of Mirrors. And then suddenly they were on another planet that seemingly had no way out. But then she had found a room of doors that apparently led to hundreds of different planets. She was sure it was all connected, and was tempted to bet that one of the doors in the vast room would lead them back to where they had come from originally, but she couldn't focus long enough to stop and work it all out. Besides, even if she did manage to rationalise it and work it all out- which she knew she could if she really tried; the Doctor had taught her that she could do anything she wanted to- it wasn't going to be much use when she was still stuck on a random rock somewhere, some_when_ in the universe.

She took a calming breath, deciding to push all the confusing facts to one side for a while so that she could concentrate on getting back to the Doctor. She gripped her TARDIS key for a moment, the cool metal soothing her as she walked along the length of the side of the museum, running her free hand over the rough brick and feeling for any fissures or anything out of the ordinary. She wished she had the sonic screwdriver or something similar with her so that she could tell if anything was actually different or if it was all in her head. Actually, if she was wishing for stuff, she wished that she had never been stupid enough to wander off on her own and get herself lost not just on an alien planet, but on a completely separate alien planet to the one the Doctor was currently on.

The shadows of the wall prevented her from noticing the two men from the square come up behind her. 'Hey, Blondie,' one of them said.

She spun around, her heart beating madly in her chest as she came face to face with the two men standing less than a foot away from her. She consciously stopped herself from taking a step back.

'Watchya doing?' the other man asked.

'Umm,' she fumbled for some words- any words- to say in response. She wished now that she'd kept that rock with her so that she'd have something to throw at them.

The first man- the one with the greasy hair- lunged for her and she ducked out of the way, throwing herself down to the ground and hardly noticing as the grazes on her hands started bleeding again and she gained a new wound on her cheek.

'Oi!' she yelled, kicking out as the man grabbed her and pulled her up, shoving her hard against the wall. Rose flattened her palms against the bricks, intending to gain some leverage so she could pull up and kick him where it hurt.

The second man leaned in close, his hot breath on her ear as he said, 'I asked what you were doing, Blondie.'

She forced a casual smile onto her face. 'Well,' she said. 'Whatever it is, I'm sure it doesn't concern you two, so you can just go now, yeah?'

The men laughed at her. 'Yeah, right,' said the one with the greasy hair. 'I think we're going to be sticking around a little bit longer, Blondie, whether you like it or not. Now, you gonna come with us quietly, or are we gonna have to drag ya?'

The smile fell from Rose's face as both the men pressed against her, blocking any chance of breaking away and making a run for it. The Doctor really was right when he said that she was jeopardy friendly, she thought. Five minutes on a new planet and she was already getting roughed up by the locals. Her head started to throb slightly where she'd cracked it against the wall.

Her fingers dug in harder to the wall at her back as the men watched her carefully, seemingly actually expecting her to answer their question. She tried to think up some witty response as she ran an index finger over a small dent in the cement, tearing the skin on a sharp edge. 'Umm,' she started, shifting her weight to her right. Her concentration slipped as she felt the greasy haired man's hand inching up from her waist, starting to stray higher than she was really comfortable with it being. She leaned further to the right so that she was bent over at an angle, her hand slipping over onto a bump in the wall.

The second man leaned in to prevent her from uprighting herself. 'Yes, Blondie?' he prompted her. His hand moved to mirror the greasy haired man's on the opposite side of her body and she fought the urge to be sick with fear and disgust. The smell radiating off the men didn't help matters either.

She slid her foot to the right. The men moved in closer, crowding her and playing with her hair, smiling grotesquely. One of them- she couldn't say which- slipped a leg in between hers and she felt bile build up in her throat. She leaned further sideways. Her hand gripped at the bump in the wall more tightly. She wished the Doctor was there to help her. She wished she was back with him on Eustance. One of the men unbuttoned her coat. She wished she was away from here. She gripped the wall tighter. Everything went hazy for a minute, the light dimming down low before glaring back up and flashing brilliant white. Her world exploded around her and the bump in the wall gave way behind her.

The men disappeared, their filthy grip finally removed from her body. The museum wall at her back disappeared, the whole planet disappearing with it. She floated through nothingness for a moment before crashing back down into reality. She appeared back in the room of doors, lying in a heap in front of the door she had walked through only fifteen minutes before. It crashed shut, echoing loudly. She curled into a ball on the floor, safe now, unable to stop the tears that poured down her cheeks or the sobs that wracked her body as she rocked slowly back and forth.

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'Where is she?' the Doctor yelled, pacing up and down the length of Ganjud's empty bar. Worry and distress had been replaced by anger, which he had found was a much more acceptable and easy emotion to deal with. He banged his fist against a wall. 'Where is she?'

Ganjud shifted nervously behind the bar. 'I don't know, mate. I've already told you she's not here. I'd know if she was.'

'Well, where is she if she's not here?' The Doctor leaned against the bar, every muscle in his body tense as he stared at Ganjud. Stress and anger was in every line of his body.

'I'm sure she's fine,' Heather said as she came to stand next to Ganjud.

'I told her!' he exclaimed. 'I told her not to go wandering off on her own. She always gets herself into trouble.' He marched to the door of the bar. 'I have to look for her.'

'You can't,' Ganjud said.

The Doctor spun round, a wild look in his eyes. 'Give me one good reason why I shouldn't.'

'The curfew,' Heather told him. The murderous look on the Doctor's face was enough to send her shuffling quietly out of the room, waving off the look of annoyance from Ganjud as he was left alone with the angry man.

The Doctor marched back to stand in the centre of the room, staring at Ganjud until the other man turned away and started fiddling with the coffee machine, his eyes flicking to the door his fiancée had just left through. It was clear he would much rather be with her than with this mad man right now. 'I can't just sit here all night,' the Doctor said. 'I can't not know where she is for the _entire night!_ Your stupid curfew! What if something's happened to her? How will I know when I can't go and find her? Tell me!'

Ganjud turned and looked at him once more. 'I never said I liked the curfew, Mr Smith. It's no one's idea of a good time, believe me.'

The Doctor sighed and collapsed into the nearest chair, all the energy draining out of him. 'Sorry,' he said. His voice dropped to a whisper. 'I'm gonna kill her when she gets back.'

'I wouldn't, if I were you,' Ganjud said as he came to sit next to him, placing a plate of pastries in between them. 'You'd only regret it,' he deadpanned.

The Doctor chuffed out a laugh in spite of himself. 'Yeah,' he said. 'I'd hate to think what her mother would do to me if I did that. She'd _certainly_ make me live to regret it.' He picked up a pastry and started eating, endless seconds ticking by loudly inside his head. Time was dragging on and on, and his hearts were pounding madly in his chest. He felt a pang of dread and worry as he wondered if Rose was all right. 'You should go and be with Heather,' he told Ganjud.

The other man laughed. 'Yeah, and leave you here alone? You'd be sneaking off outside before I could stop you!'

'What you don't know won't hurt you,' he retorted. He nodded towards the door at the back of the bar. 'Go on, go and spend the night with your fiancée. I promise I'll be good.'

'Really?' Ganjud looked sceptical. 'Are you sure you won't just—'

He was cut off by the door to the bar banging open and Rose stumbling through it, blood and tears streaking her face. The Doctor was instantly on his feet, knocking his chair over in the process as he dashed towards her. 'Where the hell have you been?' he yelled, anger evident in his voice. 'Rose!'

'Doctor,' she whispered, and immediately he felt all annoyance at her mysterious disappearance fade away as he took in the state of her.

He pulled her further into the warm of the room and leaned down to study her face, his eyes widening at the long, thin gash that ran down her cheek. 'Rose, what happened?' he asked softly.

There was a quiet shuffling behind them as Ganjud pulled out the First Aid kit and placed it on the edge of the bar before respectfully disappearing off through the door at the back of the room.

'Rose?' the Doctor repeated.

She shivered despite the warmth of indoors, her eyes welling up with tears as they fixed on his face. 'Can we go upstairs?' she asked quietly.

He didn't hesitate. 'Of course.' He picked up the medical kit and then started on the short walk up to their room, gently propelling Rose along in front of him. She was trembling beneath his touch, and he had to fight the urge to stop and pull her into his arms where they stood. He knew he shouldn't rush her, especially when something bad had so obviously happened whilst they'd been apart.

She tripped on the stairs on the way up to their room, the Doctor's quick reflexes kicking in straight away and he gripped her rib cage to prevent her from tumbling backwards. 'All right?' he asked.

Rose paused on the stairs and after a moment, shook her head. 'No,' she said almost inaudibly. 'Not really.'

The Doctor's eyes slipped shut momentarily as they continued walking again, wondering where his vibrant Rose had gone since he'd left the café earlier this afternoon. He berated himself for leaving her alone, and promised himself that he wouldn't be annoyed with her for so obviously getting herself into trouble once more. All he wanted to do was hold her, but he knew he needed to check her over first and find out what had happened.

They reached the room, entering in silence. The Doctor stopped to lock the door behind them as Rose pulled off her coat and dumped it unceremoniously on a chair. She kicked off her shoes and went and sat in the centre of the large bed, holding out her hand. 'Doctor,' she said.

He crossed the room, tugging off his own coat and shoes before sitting close to her, Ganjud's First Aid kit still in his hand. He spread the equipment out on the bed in front of them, before reaching up to carefully tuck Rose's hair behind her ear so he could see the bleeding scratch on her cheek. She shivered and tears welled up in her eyes as he scrutinised the wound. He took her hand in his and frowned when she flinched, before turning her hand so that he could see the grazed skin and the droplets of blood that oozed from the numerous small cuts. He studied her face. 'Rose,' he said quietly. 'Tell me what happened.'

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**A/N: **Don't panic, it gets better! There's some yummy fluff coming up in a couple of chapters' time… Jen xx


	9. Hold Me Closer

**Disclaimer:** Poetry quotations are taken from Rilke's First Duino Elegy, translated by Stephen Mitchell. I can't take credit for it. I wish I could…

**A/N** Fluff and angst in this chapter, because it's needed sometimes… Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for all the support so far :D

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'_Rose,' he said quietly. 'Tell me what happened.'_

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Rose shifted to lean against the Doctor's side, resting her head carefully against his shoulder as he reached to take a disinfectant wipe from the First Aid kit that was laid out on the bed in front of them. She took a few calming breaths as the sting of antiseptic washed over her palm, the Doctor's fingers gripping her hand gently. 'I'm sorry I wandered off,' she said, her voice quavering as she hoped he wouldn't be angry with her.

'It's all right Rose,' he told her. 'That doesn't matter.' His voice was a tone lower and laced with worry when he spoke again. 'Please tell me what happened to you.'

She nodded, feeling tears well up behind her eyelids once more. This wasn't her, she knew. She didn't cry easily, but things had affected her today and now she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and not get up for a long time. 'I went to have a look at that building,' she said. 'Y'know, the one we arrived next to?'

'Yes,' he said as he carefully wrapped a soft bandage around Rose's hand. He glanced at her, catching her gaze and prompting her to continue.

'I went in,' she told him. 'Into the derelict baker's shop. There was this door at the back that wouldn't open easily, but when it did…' She trailed off and shivered, pressing herself more firmly into the Doctor's side as he cleaned up the scratches on her other hand. 'It opened into this other room. It was enormous. There was no way it could have been a part of this dimension because the room was too big to fit into the space available to the shop.'

The Doctor frowned, feeling the first shot of adrenaline pulse through his system as a mystery was explained to him. 'Go on,' he said, placing Rose's hand back in her lap before lifting her head from his shoulder so he could clean the cut on her cheek. He whispered an apology when she hissed as the skin pulled and split slightly, fresh drops of blood breaking free and splashing down her face like tears.

'The room was a huge circle, with marble floors and stars in the ceiling. It was lined with doors.'

She fell silent and there was a heavy pause as the Doctor processed the information, trying to make sense of her words and wishing that there was no life-or-death curfew so that they could go and investigate the strange situation straight away. He looked at the blood on her face as something clicked into place. 'You went through one of the doors,' he said, a statement not a question.

Rose nodded as the Doctor gently wiped the blood away from her face but didn't reply.

'Where did it lead to?' he asked softly.

She looked away, unwilling to meet his gaze. 'You're gonna think I'm a right loony,' she muttered under her breath.

The Doctor smiled affectionately. 'I promise you Rose,' he told her. 'No matter what it is, I won't think you're a loony okay?' He smiled wider. 'Nothing could be madder about this situation!'

'The door led to a whole other world,' she said.

He was quiet for a long moment, his hand falling back to his side as the final drops of blood were cleaned away from Rose's face. 'Ah.' A constipated expression took up residence on his face.

Rose frowned. 'Doctor?'

He shook himself and schooled his features to look less pained. 'Tell me more,' he pressed her, his hand grasping hers once more as he turned to face her full on.

'I didn't know where it was,' she said. 'I opened the door and I stepped through and then I was standing outside this museum on an alien planet. There were loads of people there- I think they were tourists- in this square outside.'

'Do you know what species?' he asked as more adrenaline flooded his system.

'Human,' she answered. 'But I think they must have, um… _danced_ with other species as well because some of them looked different.'

He could see her faltering, not really comprehending what had happened and not entirely sure what to say about the experience. He wished he hadn't left her to go to the Alliance meeting; he should have been with her. 'How long were you there?' he asked.

She thought about it. 'Probably about fifteen minutes.'

'What happened in that time?'

Her face closed up and the Doctor found that he couldn't read her expression anymore. She looked over his shoulder to the wall, her eyes darting everywhere but him. Her hand tensed in his and he felt a tremor run through her. 'Rose,' he said. He lifted his other hand and gently touched her cheek to call her back to him. 'What happened?' he asked again, more carefully this time as he firmly established that it definitely wasn't anything good.

'I didn't know how to get back,' she said. 'I was searching along the side of the building for something to help me but I couldn't find anything.' Her voice dropped to a whisper. 'I thought I was gonna be stuck there forever.'

The Doctor's arms were around her in an instant, holding her firmly to his chest as he leaned back on the bed to rest against the headboard, guiding Rose's head to settle on his chest. He kissed her hair. 'It's all right now,' he said lamely.

'I was so stupid going there, Doctor,' she said. 'I should have waited for you to come back so we could go together. It's all my own fault.'

'Don't say that,' he admonished although he wasn't entirely sure what was supposed to be her fault. 'What happened then?'

She sighed, reluctantly continuing on with the story. 'These men came up behind me,' she told him quietly. 'Two of them, big blokes. It was all dark down the side of the museum; no one could see what was going on.' Her voice cracked.

'Rose,' he whispered, his eyes slipping shut and his arms tightening around her to remind himself that she was here now, and she was safe.

'They cornered me,' she went on. 'Asked me what I was doing, said that I was going to go with them. They wouldn't leave.' Her breath hitched in her throat. 'They were so close. They had me up against the wall and I couldn't get away from them.'

'They hurt you,' he stated, tracing the edge of the wound on her cheek carefully.

She nodded. 'But I'm all right, yeah? I'm fine, Doctor, don't worry. I leant away from them, and I grabbed onto this little mound of something that was on the wall. I started wishing that I'd listened to you and stayed in the café, that the men were gone and everything was okay again. I wished I was back with you… And then I was back in the room full of doors, in the back of the baker's shop. And then I ran back here.'

She fell silent, wrapping her arms tightly around his body as she lay half-sprawled on top of him. He held her head to his chest so she couldn't look up and see the tears shining in his eyes. He hated the thought that she had been in so much trouble and he would never have been able to find her and help her. If she hadn't found the way back to Eustance in time… He shuddered at the thought.

'Doctor,' she said, her voice firmer and more confident now that the story was over with. 'I think…'

He kissed her head. 'What?' he whispered.

'I think it's the way back. To Earth, I mean. I think that one of those doors must lead back to Earth.'

He thought about that. 'I hope so,' he replied. 'That would make sense.'

'Yeah?' she questioned softly, turning her head to face his chest.

The Doctor shivered as he felt her lips press down and burn through his shirt like a soldering iron. He wondered if touch had ever felt so intense, and then he wondered if it was exclusively to do with the intensity of the situation or if it had anything to do with the way he felt about Rose. That was another topic that would have to be stored away and analyse at a later date when he wasn't busy in the middle of planning a revolution. 'I hope so,' he said again and nuzzled his nose against her hair in a way he knew would make her shiver. He took a perverse pride as she reacted to his touch, glad that he wasn't the only one affected by the slightest intimacy between them. 'We'll explore it in the morning,' he told her. 'And then…' He trailed off, a smile playing over his face.

'What?' she asked when he didn't continue. She lifted her head and looked at him, her face only inches from his. 'And then what, Doctor?'

'Milady,' he said grandly, doing his best to ignore the way her leg slipped between his as she settled on top of him. His hands moved in small circles as they splayed over her back. 'How would you like to lead a revolution?'

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_Damien is powerless to stop the intense pounding of his heart as his chest tightens painfully. He watches Airlia as she stands before him, blonde curls lit by the light of the stars in the night sky, framed by the window of his living room. A tear on her face catches in the light and he is spellbound by it, watching it drip unchecked down her cheek until it splashes off towards the floor. He never wants to tear his gaze away from her but he knows that, all too soon, he will have to do just that._

_She is wearing the silver necklace he gave her after they had been together for a year, the single diamond in the simple silver setting reflected in her beautiful eyes. She plays with the chain, running her fingers over it as she fixes him with an intimate stare. He cannot bear to say goodbye to her._

_They have decided to separate for all the time remaining until the day when they will flee and escape from the nightmare of their lives here, knowing that they have to be all the more careful about their actions now. They have to keep their relationship a secret as it is, at times making it feel more like an affair; illegal rather than wanted. Airlia is closely monitored by her father, even now she has cut him out of her life completely, and she is taking a risk by being with Damien in the first place. And Damien is all too aware of this. He is so terrified that they will be caught before they can leave and Maximillian Camdon will take his Airlia away from him. He thinks he would rather die than have that happen._

_He closes the last gap between them, prising her hands away from the choker at her throat to hold them tightly in his own as though he never wants to let go. And he doesn't. He kisses her face, her hair, her lips, feeling more tears on her face as the time of their parting grows ever closer. She trembles at his touch in the same way she did the first time they made love, and he is reminded of the slight parallel of the situation. First times, he thinks. They're all over the place. First meeting, first intimacies, first (and hopefully only) lengthy parting. It will be two months until he sees her again, and he isn't quite sure how to say goodbye._

_They have only minutes left before they have to leave so he can walk her home before the curfew starts, say farewell at her front gate before walking home alone. He curses the stars for being so brilliant. How can the night be so beautiful when something so terrible is happening in his life? He chokes on his breath as he contemplates the loneliness. 'I love you,' he tells her._

_This is the day Damien realises that loving someone means sacrificing aspects of yourself. Everything will change in two months and seventeen hours._

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'So this revolution,' Rose said some time later as she and the Doctor sat side by side on the bed, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her back. His breath ghosted over her as he rested his chin on her hair.

He hummed in response, something in his tone prompting her to carry on and voice all that was unspoken. His hand brushed her arm and he wondered if the slight jolt she gave was a positive reaction to his touch or a negative one to what had happened to her on an alien planet earlier today. He held her a bit tighter as he remembered what she had told him. And, oh yeah, wasn't she saying something about the revolution?

'The revolution,' she repeated. 'What exactly do we have to do?'

'You don't have to do anything,' he told her honestly. 'Not if you don't want to. It's entirely up to you.'

'Are you going to be helping?' she asked.

'Yes,' he said without hesitating.

She nodded against him. 'Then so am I.'

He smiled at that, loving that she would trust him to take her into such a dangerous situation so that they could hopefully make life better for the people of this planet. It worried him as well though; it terrified him that something might happen to her and it would all be his fault. _Just like what happened earlier… _'Well,' he said in response to her earlier question. 'We're merely helping these people regain the freedom that they lost. It's their war, not ours; there's only so much that you and I can do. We'll lend a hand where we can, make up the numbers.'

He sounded casual, and this unsettled her somewhat. 'We won't… have to kill anyone will we?'

'I bloody hope not!' The Doctor laughed, his chest rumbling against Rose's side. She pressed herself closer to him, not sharing in his amusement. The thought of potentially having to kill someone terrified her more than being killed herself, and it was perhaps the one thing that would make her watch the revolution from the sidelines instead of being in the thick of it with the Doctor. His expression sobered as he felt the tension radiating from her body. 'Don't worry Rose,' he said, brushing against her hair with his nose. 'I'll make sure that doesn't happen. We're still trying not to be noticed by the authorities, remember? We'll stay low-key, away from the guards and as far from any violence as we can.'

'I'm not sure that you and low-key go together all that well,' she said, a teasing tone creeping back into her voice.

He grinned. 'Well, I know it will be hard, what with my devastatingly sexy good looks and all, but I promise I'll do my best. I want to get home too.'

'I know you do.' She turned into him and wrapped an arm around his torso, loving the closeness and hoping that it was one aspect of this little adventure that they could take back to the TARDIS with them. She was sure that her own bed would feel big and empty now after sharing with the Doctor. His presence soothed her more than she was comfortable to admit. 'Do you think we will be able to get home?' she asked him hesitantly, suddenly less sure of herself and still terrified that they would never be able to get back despite the discovery of the room of doors.

'Of course,' he answered immediately, meaning what he said. He would get them back, for her. He was more than happy to take her travelling across the universe as long as she wanted to go with him, but he would always make sure she was never permanently trapped with him. Just in case, he thought. His chest felt heavy at the thought that she might one day leave out of her own choice but he pushed that depressing notion to the back of his mind where he kept the rest of his pain. She was here with him now, and he was always happy when he was with her- life-threatening situation or not.

Rose pressed closer to him for comfort and warmth; the room was still chilly despite the heating and mass of bed covers that surrounded them. The Doctor wrapped his arms securely around her, glad to have her back after being separated earlier in the day. He savoured her touch as she played absently with the sleeve of his shirt and her warm breath covered his neck. He had gone so long without touch, without affection, and to have it all back amplified it more than ever. Of course, it was probably emphasised even more by the fact that this body was hyper-sensitive to touch and stimulation. He felt her drifting in and out of consciousness as he held her, sleep only just around the corner.

He pressed one more kiss to the top of her head- something he realised he was fast becoming addicted to- before resting his cheek on her hair and gently rocking her in his arms like he would a child. As much as he wanted her to stay awake and talk with him through the night, they had a revolution to lead tomorrow, and she really needed her sleep. He smiled as she totally relaxed against him, and he hoped that this was something else they would be able to keep doing once this whole nightmare was over.

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_Damien stands, shoulders slumped, watching Airlia step away from him. She walks backwards slowly towards her apartment building, tears on her face as she waves a final goodbye. She blows him a kiss at the door before disappearing inside, and he feels his heart break a little._

_He stands and watches her building for a short time; as long as he dares before the beginning of the curfew. In the dark of the evening he sees the light in Airlia's apartment switch on, but he turns and walks away before she comes to look for him at the window. It would hurt him too much to be able to see her but not touch her._

_He walks down the street, back the way he came. His hands are in his pockets as he looks up at the sky, but he doesn't see the stars shimmering millions of miles above him; he knows that they will remind him too much of Airlia. He walks on, haunted now by the lines of an old poet from Earth, and he is reminded all of a sudden of how human he is, how small. _

Often a star

was waiting for you to notice it.

_Everything is small now, he thinks. Even the stars, the universe. It all pales in comparison with the strength of his love. He keeps walking._

_Damien trips over a curb as he nears his own apartment building, more of Rilke's whisperings floating through his head, memories of things he learnt in school so very long ago. It strikes him how romantic a notion education seems to him now he is growing old, and it is a pleasure he wants back. _

…Weren't you always

distracted by expectation, as if every event

announced a beloved?

_Airlia is a presence in his head, just like she has been since the day he met her, but now it hurts to think of her knowing he cannot see her for so long. He stumbles his way up to his apartment and shoves open the door._

_There is so much to do before they leave, and so little time to do it. Perhaps it is good that he won't be able to dwell too long on his separation from Airlia. There's work, and his apartment and his family, his money and their safe flight from the hell of Eustance… So many tasks. _

(Where can you find a place

to keep her, with all the huge strange thoughts inside you

going and coming and often staying all night.)

_This is the day Damien learns that he'll never know everything. Everything will change in two months and thirteen hours._

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The Doctor sat in the armchair across from the bed and watched Rose sleep. She was on her side facing him, the blankets and duvet pulled up snugly around her. He grinned at the state of her hair, flying out at odd angles and spread around her head like a platinum halo. She could have been innocence itself lying down for a rest, he thought.

He leaned back in the chair, resting his head on the cushioned back and sighing. The nights really were too long here. It had only been a couple of hours since Rose had fallen asleep, and yet there was still well over ten hours to go until the curfew was lifted. He thought he might go insane if he had to live here permanently. He watched Rose as she moaned lightly in her sleep, pulling the blankets more securely around her. He hated that he'd trapped her here indefinitely, although a weight had lifted from his chest when she'd told him of what could possibly be a way out. He refused to be too hopeful though; it would only crush him more if it ended up leaving them in a bigger mess than the one they started with.

Rose's clothes rested on his lap, and he unconsciously kneaded the fabric of her t-shirt with one hand. After she had fallen asleep, he had held her for a short time whilst holding an internal battle over whether he should undress her or not before putting her to bed properly. He had finally decided that he should; he knew he always hated to wake up wearing the clothes he'd had on the night before. And so, with as much passivity as he could manage he had reluctantly shifted her from his arms and carefully removed her clothes, wrapping her up in a blanket as he went so that the shift in temperature wouldn't awaken her. Then he had slipped her beneath the covers on the bed and sat stroking her hair for a while to make sure she was fully asleep. He had found a small lump on the back of her head, crusty with dried blood. It must have been another injury she gained whilst stuck on another alien planet earlier in the day. That thought had made him feel sick, and he knew that if he ever came across the men who had hurt her then he would under no circumstances be able to show them any kind of mercy. Thinking about what had happened to her- and what could have happened to her- made him stay with her on the bed a short while longer.

And now he rose from the chair once again, unable to stay away from her at the moment. He placed her clothes where he had been sitting a moment before, his own clothes joining them as he took off his shoes and his suit. _How domestic,_ he thought as he looked at the jumble of their clothes on the chair, as though they had just been thrown there at the end of a long day. Which, he reflected, they had.

He walked across to the bed, going around to the far side so he could slip in behind Rose. His arm wrapped around her waist, and he held her back to his chest for a moment before gently rolling her over into his arms and settling her head against his shoulder, mindful of her scrapes and bruises. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed gently. She hummed against his chest, her hands unconsciously moving to rub up and down his sides, skimming his ribs. He shivered. He had been deprived of intimacy for so long before he met Rose that now this was almost overload. It was good though, he decided, his lips against her forehead and his hands on her back. The closeness was good, and the feel of her heart beating soundly against his comforted him, reminding him of her presence, her life.

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**A/N:** Next chapter will be up on Monday. It's all kicking off now, so I hope you stick with it!! All reviewers get a magically amazing UV pen. Jen xx


	10. And Closer Still

**A/N:** THANK YOU to everyone for all the support so far; I'm really glad everyone is still enjoying the story! There's some more fluff in this chapter… Enjoy!

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'Right then, tell me exactly how you did this yesterday.'

The Doctor and Rose were stood just inside the derelict baker's shop, the door cracked open slightly behind them. After an _extremely_ long and slow night, spent drifting in and out of sleep and talking quietly about their plans for this day, light had finally begun to creep into their hotel room signifying that the curfew would be lifted shortly. A quick shower and one humungous breakfast later (neither of them had eaten since soup in the café the day before), they had left Ganjud's bar and come back to the place where this whole catastrophe had started. The Doctor wanted to know every tiny little thing Rose had done when she was here previously, so he would hopefully have a better chance of working out what had happened and would be able to explain everything to her.

'Umm,' she said, moving away from him to stand in the centre of the bombed-out shop. 'I had a bit of a look round in here, I guess. Then I tried to open that door.' She pointed towards the door that should have lead out to the back of the shop. It was shut once again, having slammed loudly when she had dashed out of here in a panic yesterday.

'Right.' His face set in a grim line, the Doctor strode over to the door, bending down to examine the handle. He tugged it lightly, feeling the mechanism give slightly where it had worn with age and strain, some of which was probably a result of Rose's little adventure the day before. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, fiddling with the settings until he found the right one and then he aimed it at the door. He frowned.

Rose came to stand behind him, and he could feel the heat of her body against his back. 'What is it?' she asked.

He stood and whirled round to face her, realising too late that she was closer to him than he had thought. She stumbled, and by instinct his hands shot out to grab her shoulders and pull her up against him. A draft from the door blew her scent across his face, sweat and sleep and the shampoo she had found in the bathroom to wash the blood out of her hair this morning. He inhaled deeply, for a second forgetting his purpose and allowing himself to become intoxicated with the smell of Rose.

'What is it?' she asked again, stretching up to see into his face properly.

Her voice broke into his momentary haze. 'It's strange,' he said vaguely.

She frowned. 'Why? I thought you said that there was nothing wrong with the building.'

'There isn't,' he assured her. 'And that's what's strange. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the building, because…' He trailed off, letting go of her suddenly and darting off around the room with his sonic screwdriver, holding it against the walls and random points in the air and baking equipment still left in the room. Eventually he came back to the door in the back wall, and he scanned it again. His frown deepened. 'It's impossible to tell whether there's anything wrong with this part of the building because, for all intents and purposes, it doesn't exist.'

'Right.' Rose frowned, completely perplexed. She decided that there was no harm in pointing out the down right obvious. 'But I can see it.' She nodded at the wall and then rapped the door with her knuckles lightly. 'I can touch it.'

He nodded. 'That's right,' he said. 'But according to physics, maths, and my immortal genius, it doesn't exist. It's visible, it's touchable, it's _right there in front of us_, but according to all of my readings, it's not there at all. Discuss.'

The Doctor turned his attention back to the door, turning the knob back and forth in an effort to make it open but it wouldn't budge. 'It did that yesterday too,' Rose told him.

'Mmm,' he replied distractedly. He knew he should be able to explain this if he put his mind to it, should be able to come up with a scientific explanation to explain all of the anomalies away, but with half a mind still concentrating on the revolution that was taking place later today, it was hard. 'I guess we should have a look inside then!'

Rose nodded hesitantly, not entirely thrilled about going back into the room of doors after what had happened the last time, even if it did manage to help them find a way home. 'All right,' she said, stepping closer to the Doctor and feeling herself relax somewhat when he took her hand in his and looked deep into her eyes before grinning widely at her.

'I love a mystery!' he told her as he adjusted the sonic screwdriver once more and held it to the door.

It swung open into the room that lay ahead of them. For a moment the Doctor just stood and stared, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets at the sight that was in front of him. He was distantly aware of Rose pressing herself closer to him as they shuffled through the open door, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 'Oh, wow,' he breathed, turning them both in a full circle as he tried to take in the whole spectacle. 'This is… This is… Wow, I'm lost for words!' He jumped on the spot like a giddy school boy. 'And well done you!' He turned to Rose. 'Congratulations on finding this place! I never would have come back to look here if you hadn't done it first.' He pressed a smacking kiss to her forehead and moved away, walking to the centre of the large room. 'And this… This is _amazing_!'

He laughed out loud, the sound echoing round the circular room of doors. He dropped to the floor to study the shimmering marble floor that Rose had told him about and then jumped up and down as high as he could to examine the star-flecked ceiling. He reached out and pulled Rose into him, holding her as though in a dance. 'Care to waltz?' he asked, his voice manic and excited.

Without waiting for an answer, he held her closer and whirled her around, skating out to the edges of the room and then back into the centre. He twirled her round and round until she shrieked with laughter and gripped onto him tightly, and then he dipped her so that she was horizontal, looking up into his eyes. The Doctor stared down at the woman he held precariously in his arms, elation flooding through him suddenly. He grinned at her, his head dropping down until his nose brushed against hers lightly. 'Hi,' he whispered.

She giggled nervously. 'Hey.'

His hands shifted on her back and his lips hovered close to hers. He cleared his throat and he pulled away reluctantly, setting Rose back on her feet and steadying her with an arm around her waist. 'Shall we have a look at all these doors then?'

She pulled in a deep breath. 'Yeah, I suppose.'

The Doctor shuffled away, feeling his cheeks flaming red and once again cursing this whole nightmare situation. If they had been away from here- if they had been in the TARDIS or on Earth or even just somewhere safe- he knew he would have kissed her just then. And he knew that she wouldn't have stopped him; she might even have welcomed him. But right here, right now, he couldn't afford to get caught up in his confusing feelings for Rose. He had to stay focused, had to save this planet and he had to get them home. He shook himself mentally to rid himself of all the thoughts that were telling him to sod the revolution and go back over to Rose and finish what he had wanted to start only seconds before. He squashed his desire down. 'Which door did you go through yesterday?' he asked her, head slightly bowed as he stared at a wall.

'That one,' Rose said, pointing at the one she meant.

'Right,' he said, his breathing raspy and hearts pounding madly. He still couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze.

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_Damien is drinking for the fourth night running. He has barely slept in three weeks, instead surviving on coffee and cigarettes and the red wine he knows Airlia loves. It occurs to him that it might be wrong of him, the way he depends on her so much that he can barely keep himself alive when she isn't there. He wonders how he managed to get by before he knew her, before realising that much of that time is lost to him now, pushed deep down in his mind out of the way._

_He drinks the dregs straight from the bottle, before adding it to his rapidly growing collection of empties and collapsing onto his sofa. His head is spinning from too much alcohol and too little sleep, but right now he is failing to see a solution to the problem. Part of him is elated however, that there is now only just over one month to go until he and Airlia can escape from Eustance and be free from all the pain._

_He hopes that she is okay; he has had no word from her since they separated. This was what they had agreed beforehand, but in practice it was hurting him a lot more than he thought it would do. Damien groans and reaches for his next bottle of wine to help see him through the night._

_This is the day Damien realises that love hurts, and obsession hurts even more. Everything will change in one month, one week, and twenty two hours._

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'We don't have to go through it, do we?' Rose asked the Doctor nervously as he stood up from his examination of the door that had led her to another world.

He smiled gently in her general direction. 'No, we don't. We don't have the time, and we can't risk being unable to find the way back. Especially not in these circumstances.' He turned back to the door, and the hard line of his shoulders told Rose that whatever he was thinking about was not exactly pleasurable. She wondered if he was remembering the story she had told him last night.

'Do you think one of the doors leads back to Earth?' she asked him.

The Doctor moved away from the door and led her back to the centre of the room. 'I think so,' he said, but he didn't sound one hundred percent convinced. 'Think about it. Eustance is a planet populated by humans, and so was that planet you ended up on. I think…' He trailed off and sighed heavily, a worried expression taking up residence on his face. Rose had gotten quite used to seeing that expression over the past couple of days, and she hoped that it would disappear as soon as they got back to Earth. 'I think something has gone horribly wrong somehow,' the Doctor said.

'Why? What with?'

'Didn't you ever wonder where the legend of Valhalla came from?'

Rose shrugged. She hated it when he answered her question with a question, especially one that was seemingly unrelated. 'Valhalla,' she repeated. 'That was the Nordic legend, yeah?'

He nodded. 'Yes. A great hall filled with over five hundred doors, out of which the soldiers would march into battle.' He gestured around the room. 'This place is never meant to be seen, but legend has to come from somewhere Rose.'

She frowned, thinking it through. Usually she liked it when he gave her clues so that she could work something out on her own, but right now she wished he'd just spit it out and get it over with. Especially as he seemed to have a revolution to lead in only a few hours time. The whole thing was making her head hurt. 'So you think that each of these doors leads to something human… Different planets?'

'Exactly!' he exclaimed, pride in his eyes. 'Knew you'd work it out!'

Her eyebrows were raised almost off her forehead. 'So behind each of these doors is a planet colonised by humans, and this room is like the central point connecting all of them. Is that what you're telling me?'

He nodded. 'Except this place is supposed to be impenetrable. There's been a legend, a rumour, as long as I can remember, that when races colonise planets they're connected somehow throughout the universe. It's somehow written into time and space, resulting in places like this. Except this shouldn't be here.'

'Because we came from 1959, and at that point humans hadn't left Earth yet.'

'That's right,' he agreed. 'Once we get back to the TARDIS, I'll be able to fix it easily. Hide this place and make sure that nobody else gets lost in the way that we have. There must be a glitch in the codes of the universe that ended up getting the wires crossed and opened a gateway from Earth to here. I'll be able to close it from the other side.'

'So it's all been a big accident.'

He nodded. 'Yes. I'm sorry.'

She waved him off. 'It's not your fault.' Rose felt tears welling up behind her eyelids, threatening to spill over and down her cheeks. They were so close to discovering the way home, but even if they found it they wouldn't be able to go back just yet. They still had to save this planet; as the Doctor would say, they were part of events now and they had to see it through to the end. She missed her own bed. She missed the TARDIS and she missed the easy fun of the carnival that they'd been so rudely pulled away from a couple of days before. Something occurred to her. 'So I guess it explains why we kept seeing strange things at the carnival.'

'Yes,' the Doctor said, something akin to sadness in his eyes although Rose couldn't find a reason for it. Maybe he was feeling guilty again. 'Times were overlapping and bleeding into each other, transplanting themselves into places they have no business being in.' He smiled suddenly. 'At least that would be my guess!'

Rose walked over to stand next to him, sliding her hand into his. 'It means we can get back though, yeah?'

He looked at her in that way of his that made her knees turn to jelly. 'I imagine so. The doorway came from the House of Mirrors, so all we have to do is find the corresponding door in here and walk through. Easy!' His tone was natural but there was a flicker in his eye that made Rose think that perhaps it wasn't as easy as he wanted her to think it was. After all, there were an awful lot of doors in here.

And, if she wasn't mistaken, another door was currently being created in the wall opposite them. 'Doctor, look!'

He noticed the new door at around the same time, his eyes bulging and his mouth hanging open as his hand tightened around Rose's. 'It looks like the human race has made yet another conquest.' A look of wonderment appeared on his face and he shook his head. 'Amazing,' he murmured. 'It's so amazing. Two days ago I would have questioned the existence of a place like this and yet here I am. Standing right in the middle of it all.' He tore his gaze away from the door to focus his eyes on Rose. 'And it's all thanks to you.' He kissed her forehead- it seemed to Rose that this was getting to be a new habit. Not that she minded, of course. 'You always challenge me,' he continued more quietly. 'You've reshaped my whole beliefs, and it's terrifying.' He bent so that their eyes were level. 'And I love it. You've saved me time and time again.' He straightened up, looking over her head at the new door in the wall, which was stronger and brighter and fresher than all the rest. _A new triumph._ 'Today is no exception.'

'Lots to do today,' Rose reminded him when the Doctor began to look wistful, a sure sign that if he didn't snap out of it soon then he would probably be introspecting for hours.

He snapped back into reality. 'Oh yes,' he said, as though it was possible to forget. 'We have some revolutionising to do. Providing the Alliance has kept up their end of the bargain, that is.' He turned back to the door that led to the baker's shop, clearly reluctant to leave this place and head back into solidly structured time and space.

'Doctor?' Rose prompted. She could understand his reluctance; now that they had found this place, and almost found a way back to the TARDIS, it was incredibly hard to leave it. But they had business to take care of.

'Right, yes,' he said. 'I suppose we should go and meet Oscar. Come on!'

They left the room of doors, and walked back outside with a long day and a mammoth task ahead of them. But, Rose reasoned, the people had been wanting freedom for a long time now and it seemed that they were more than ready to fight to get it back. How long could this revolution take?

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_Damien has gone to Airlia's workplace on his lunch break. They always used to meet up and eat together, when they had they chance. It became a nice little habit of theirs that they would sit on the bench facing the park of Valtallahan and eat sandwiches and salad before Damien would kiss Airlia and leave to go back to his afternoon surgeries._

_Today Airlia sits on the bench alone, staring in the direction of the rose garden where they first met. Her head is slightly bowed, and Damien can imagine her holding a book in her hands, just like on that first day. He imagines himself walking across the park to meet her; she would look up and smile when she saw him, kiss him when he sat down. Just like they used to do before this self-imposed banishment._

_He watches her for half an hour; all the time he can spare, as ever. Her hair glints in the weak sunlight and he feels his chest constricting. She is so near now, but he knows that he cannot alert her to his presence. It would be ridiculous at this late stage to give themselves away in any way, to jeopardise their plans when they have come this far. It isn't long at all now until they are free. Just two more days apart from her, after this one. Damien cannot wait until that day; there is talk of unrest at the moment and more protests than ever, different opposition groups lining the streets with chants and placards and more people than is fathomable being arrested and killed by the guards. A member of the Freedom Movement was murdered on Hansley Bridge yesterday, and there is a rumour that the Liberal Rights Alliance is planning to make a move._

_When his time is up, Damien walks away from Airlia without looking back. It would only hurt if he stayed to linger and watch her until she went back inside. Besides, it would make him late and if everything goes to plan, this will be his second to last day at work before they leave._

_This is the day Damien begins to look forward to the rest of his life with the woman he loves. Everything will change in three days and three and a half hours._

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All around the grass was green, the wind was blowing gently and there was the scent of flowers in the air. The weak sunlight shone down; too far away from the planet to offer any real warmth like there would be on Earth but it was pleasant all the same. Rose sat leaning against the Doctor, his arm around her shoulders and her head nestled against his neck. If she stayed still and stopped breathing for a minute, she could feel the pulse of his hearts against her forehead; hear the rush of his blood through his veins. They were taking a few final quiet moments together before the revolution began and, most likely, all mayhem let loose.

'Do you think it will work?' she asked. They were being very careful not to actually use the word "revolution".

The Doctor sighed softly. 'I hope so. There's no reason why it shouldn't.'

'I hope it does,' she said, shivering slightly and shifting more securely into the Doctor's embrace. She moved her head to his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso, feeling him smile against her hair and hold her a little tighter. 'I can't wait to get back to the TARDIS.'

'I know,' he said. 'Neither can I. I think a well deserved break is in order after this to make up for it. That was all I wanted in the first place.'

She grinned. 'Maybe we should go somewhere other than a carnival then. A beach maybe. Or a nice forest on some alien planet somewhere. And you still have to come shopping with me, remember?'

He squeezed her slightly. 'I remember. We'll find somewhere to go and relax,' he promised. 'This is just a little detour; we'll get there in the end!'

'I know we will.' She freed one hand momentarily to gesture around them. 'This place seems nice though. The flowers are lovely.'

He nodded against her. 'It wouldn't be half bad if it wasn't for the social situation.' His smile against her hair disappeared. 'I'm so sorry to have got you all caught up in this.'

She slapped his chest lightly. 'Don't be ridiculous. I've already told you that it isn't your fault. How were you supposed to predict that there'd be a whole alien world outside of the House of Mirrors?' She pulled herself out of his embrace and looked up at him seriously. 'Don't blame yourself,' she said. 'Please don't blame yourself. I hate it when you do that.'

He studied her, an unreadable expression in his eyes. The wind blew Rose's hair over her face and the Doctor brushed it back out of her eyes, tucking it carefully behind her ear. He left his hand on her face, cupping her cheek tenderly as though he thought she might break. He leaned closer, his warm breath counteracting the cold breeze. The heat spread through her deliciously as he pulled her body against his, and she pressed herself more firmly against him. His lips were within centimetres of hers, damp and slightly apart, and oh-so-inviting. 'Doctor,' she whispered, intoxicated by the feel of him surrounding her, keeping her anchored, holding her safe.

He caressed her cheek with his thumb, his gaze flicking between her eyes and her mouth and then back again. 'Rose, I promise,' he whispered. 'I promise you that this will be okay, that we'll get out of it.' He took a shaky breath, and she felt his hand tremble against her cheek. 'But just in case…' He trailed off and pressed his lips against hers, his hand holding her mouth to his for just a few seconds before he pulled away slightly and rested his forehead against hers. 'Sorry,' he said. 'I just had to…'

'No,' she cut in. 'Don't apologise. It's all okay. It's all right, Doctor.' And it was all right. In fact, it was amazing. She had been waiting so long for him to do that. In fact… She leaned up and kissed him again, taking his bottom lip between both of hers and sucking lightly, giving it a light nip before pulling away and smiling up into his face. 'Okay?' she questioned.

He smiled gently, shakily. 'Of course,' he said. 'More than okay. Brilliant.'

They stayed like that, locked in a warm embrace, for a few moments more before someone cleared their throat behind the bench they were sitting on and they both whipped round to face whoever it was. A man stood there, looking nervous but still intrinsically confident, his clothes warm but loose and a look of determination on his face.

'Oscar,' the Doctor greeted him, and now Rose knew him from the story the Doctor had told her last night. He was one of the leaders of the Liberal Rights Alliance, one of the leaders of the revolution.

'Doctor,' Oscar greeted him. He smiled at Rose. 'And you must be Rose.'

She nodded. 'Yeah. It's nice to meet you.'

The man leered slightly. 'And you, sweetheart.'

Rose couldn't help the smile that crept across her face as the Doctor held her securely in his grip, a look of annoyance flashing across his face as he regarded Oscar.

Oscar cleared his throat and shuffled slightly before looking across at them with a huge grin on his face. 'I've come to tell you,' he said. 'That everything is ready and prepared.' He paused for dramatic effect. 'It's time.'

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_Damien cannot sleep. Tomorrow he will be going to meet Airlia at her apartment near the government buildings and then they will escape together, never to return._

_Everything is ready now, his single bag packed with the tickets and documents they will need to travel, and all of his remaining money that hasn't already been moved to an off-world account. His jacket sits on top of the bag, and inside is the diamond engagement ring for Airlia. He is going to ask her to marry him, although he is not quite sure whether he should do it before they leave or after they are safe and far away. Both options have their merits._

_All he needs to do now is get through this night and tomorrow morning, and then in the early afternoon he can leave to collect his lover and take her away from here. He doesn't even attempt to go to bed, although he turns his lights out at a reasonable time just like he is expected to do. He lies on his sofa, staring at the ceiling and running through the plans in his head. He thinks he hears someone run past the building, and wonders briefly who it is. It doesn't sound like a guard, and so he assumes that someone is on the run. After all, who in their right mind would be out after the curfew? At least the guards will be busy with someone else and not him and Airlia, he decides._

_He lies awake on the sofa until the sky eventually lightens, when he begins to pace nervously up and down the living room. Not long now._

_This is the day that Damien is going to escape from Eustance. Everything will change in fourteen hours._

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The Doctor grasped Rose's hand tightly in his, determined to keep her with him, knowing he cannot lose her now. He needs to know that she's safe. The group of men are talking quietly up ahead; any second now.

And then Oscar turned around, the same grin on his face. He took a step forward. 'We're leaving,' he said. 'We'll collect everyone along the way, and there are three other groups coming from elsewhere in the vicinity. Let's go.'

They started to walk out from where they had been waiting in the storage space beneath Hansley Bridge. There were around two hundred people there, and they would pick up around twenty thousand others along the way before meeting up with the other groups outside the government buildings only a mile a way. Plenty of people to overthrow a government. Hopefully.

The Doctor quickly pulled Rose into a bone-crushing hug as the people all began to move, holding her tightly against him before reclaiming her hand and leading her to walk alongside the crowd. He grinned at her and she smiled back. They rounded a corner and began to walk up the incline to the bridge, an endless stream of people appearing out of nowhere (or so it seemed), and their numbers swelled and doubled, and then doubled again, with every passing second. The Liberal Rights Alliance was finally making its move, and something was going to change.

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**A/N:** Oooh what happens next, I wonder? The next chapter will be up on Friday providing the website doesn't break down… Please review! Jen xx


	11. Convergence

**A/N:** Thanks for all the lovely comments so far! This chapter is pretty much my main reason for writing this story, mainly because I thought it would be fun to do… And it was! I hope you like it, xx

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The Liberal Rights Alliance marched along the top of Hansley Bridge, all traffic coming to a standstill around them. Many people left their cars and joined them, nodding to other people they recognised. This was obviously something they had been warned about, or at least expecting for a long time.

The Doctor could see another large group of people marching a couple of miles away, in the direction of the government buildings they were currently headed towards and he identified them immediately as one of the other sections of the Liberal Rights Alliance. Many people were carrying weapons, either obviously or concealed by their clothes. He gripped Rose's hand as tightly as he could, not wanting to lose her in the middle of a crowd of mass destruction.

They came to the end of the bridge and began the descent down the ramp that would lead them to the power district of government and finance. Helicopters, or something like them, were taking off from the building Oscar had identified as one of the major guard stations. From their elevated position halfway up the bridge, the Doctor could see a stream of guards running out of the building carrying weapons. Some of them were climbing into heavily armoured vehicles. So the government had become aware of the situation, sooner than had been expected. And now the game was on.

The crowds marched on, many people holding signs and placards and beginning to chant for freedom. They came out onto level ground, losing sight of the other group from the Liberal Rights Alliance now that there were buildings in their way. Government ministries and the presidential palace loomed above them a little way away. More people joined them, but more people opposed them as well. _Two sides of the argument,_ the Doctor thought. He grimaced as he felt Rose press herself closer to his side, her breathing quickening rapidly and her hand clammy in his. A skirmish broke out just ahead of them and a few guns went off. There were the sounds of groaning and the smell of blood in the air.

They walked down a narrow backstreet at the edge of the residential area near the government buildings. There were so many people; they all crowded down it, the numbers swelling like the ebb and flow of the tide.

Oscar was shouting now, hanging towards the back of the crowd as he urged people on, making sure every last person was doing their best to fight for their cause. They picked up speed, forced to run as adrenaline flowed through them all as though they were the same being, fighting for what had been denied them for so long now. 'Freedom,' they cried. 'Freedom.'

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_Damien leaves his apartment for the last time, just after lunch on the day he and Airlia are planning to escape from Eustance. All he carries with him are their travel documents and financial information, some water and the engagement ring for Airlia. His heart is pounding as he surveys the rooms of his residence, checking that nothing is out of place and that there is nothing left behind that could give them away. He will hire a lawyer to sell the apartment and his possessions for him once he and Airlia are safe._

_He walks out of the apartment block confidently, glad of the chill in the air to dry his nervous sweat. The weather is definitely something he won't miss about Eustance, he decides. It's always freezing here. He is going to take Airlia someplace nice, where they can marry and raise their children, and where the weather is always warm._

_He slips his keys in his pocket, the way he always does when he leaves the house. He is carrying the same bag that he wears every day to the hospital so that there will be nothing out of the ordinary if anyone is to see him walking away. The hospital aren't expecting him today; six months ago he had booked two weeks holiday from work, and they won't miss him for another week. He cannot help it as his heart pounds louder and skips a couple of beats._

_It will take him around half an hour to get to Airlia's. He only hopes that nothing goes wrong in the time it takes him to get there. He knows nothing of the revolution that is currently getting underway; he hasn't turned on his television today, instead pulling the plug out at the wall as he left the apartment._

_He has left home too early, but he doesn't know this. His slight haste has caused him to miss Airlia's telephone call, the one telling him to stay home, stay away, keep himself away from her. Damien keeps walking._

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The Liberal Rights Alliance flooded out onto the main street, joining forces with a small group of protestors that were already lining the streets. Rose gripped the Doctor's hand firmly as chaos began to erupt all around them. They hung around the edges of the crowd; this wasn't their battle to fight.

'Stay with me,' the Doctor said to her, his gaze meeting hers. The look in his eyes was deadly serious.

'You think I'm planning on going anywhere?' she said, her tone letting him know that she wasn't going to be heading off on her own anytime soon.

He grinned at her, a manic expression on his face as they stood back and watched thousands of angry people storming towards the government buildings, running headlong into the guards that were currently swarming towards them and fighting for their lives and their freedom. People ran in from all directions, their faces set with a single purpose. Rose had to admit that the Alliance could stage a pretty good revolution on short notice. Although, she realised, the government was also capable of putting up a pretty decent defence on what she assumed was no notice at all. Looking up at the Doctor, she realised that he was thinking the same thing. 'They must have known,' he murmured quietly to her, nodding as he saw the realisation in her eyes. 'They had time to prepare. Somebody told them.'

Oscar appeared then, running over to them with blood on his clothes and dirt on his face, but he was grinning as though he'd never been happier. 'Isn't this amazing?!' he cried. 'It's absolutely incredible!' His grin turned malicious. 'And we know the location of the president's daughter. This is fantastic.'

'The guards don't seem to think so,' the Doctor said pointedly, his gaze fixed on a bloody battle less than one hundred metres away from them. The guards were pulverising the protestors and the protestors were pummelling the guards until it was almost impossible to tell who was who. Only the insignia of the government stood out to identify the guards as members of the oppressive regime they were here to destroy.

Rose gasped sharply as one of the protestors was struck hard with a truncheon and fell to the floor, blood pouring out of a wound on his head. 'Doctor,' she said, tugging on his sleeve and pulling her hand out of his to run over and help the man. She hadn't expected things to be this bloody, but she could already tell that the Doctor hadn't expected it to be like this either. The look on Oscar's face however, told her that this was exactly what he had been planning from the start. She didn't have to look at the Doctor to know that he was furious. She darted over towards the man who was rolling around on the floor in agony.

The Doctor caught her arm, pulling her back to him with a jolt. His arm banded around her waist, anchoring her to him as she struggled to get away. 'No, Rose,' he told her.

'Doctor, that man!' she cried, shoving ineffectually against his chest as he held her tightly. 'We have to help him!' She pulled away from him and whirled back towards the small group of protestors who had been cornered and were now most definitely losing to the guards. Some of them were being picked up and carried away into vehicles labelled with the government's logo.

'No!' he yelled at her, forcibly dragging her back into the shadow of a building. 'We can't, Rose,' he said more softly, his gaze flicking to Oscar momentarily. Rose detected the Doctor's new found contempt for the man now that the revolution was definitely not going the way the Doctor would have planned. 'We can't get involved in that,' he told her. 'It's too dangerous. The guards…' He glanced round to the fight behind them as more protestors flooded out of the side street and Oscar yelled at them to go straight to the government buildings. The Doctor stepped in front of Rose, purposefully blocking her view of the guards beating the protestors to a pulp. He knew without further examination that at least three of them were already dead, and another five had been loaded into the guards' vehicles.

'But they're dying!' Rose exclaimed, her voice increasingly high pitched and tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't just stand here while people died, and she couldn't see how the Doctor could either. Not when he had spent the last two days mouthing off about the brutality of all that they had discovered on Eustance and the revolution happening today was all down to his insistence. She knew that he would probably feel horrendously guilty about all of this later, and she shocked herself by thinking that maybe this time he would deserve at least some of that guilt. 'Let me help them!'

'I _can't_ Rose,' he stressed, holding her tightly by the shoulders and pushing her roughly up against the side of the building as she fought against his hold on her. 'The guards don't care if you're a citizen of Eustance or an outsider. They'll kill you just the same.'

She slumped against the wall in defeat, knowing the Doctor would never let her go over there when there was a chance she could be killed. Especially when they didn't have the security of the TARDIS with them in case anything went wrong. She reluctantly let him pull her into a hug, his lips in her hair and hers on his neck as a bloody revolution went on around them. Oscar's voice rang out, telling people to 'Get going! Go quicker! Fight for what we deserve! Fight for freedom!' The crowd cheered as one at his words, resuming their chant of 'Freedom! Freedom!' as they marched onwards towards the heart of their hatred and oppression. The battles raged on all around them

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_Damien walks out onto the main street that leads him to Airlia's apartment block, near to all the government buildings. His heart is pounding with nerves and excitement as he grows ever nearer to her, still unaware that she is repeatedly phoning his apartment in an effort to tell him that they can't escape, not today. Perhaps not any day._

_His pace picks up as he sees a small number of protestors lining the streets, placards held high and the rumble of something greater passing among them. He frowns at the sudden change in atmosphere, wondering why the people on the streets are more jittery than normal today. He wonders if it is just because he is nervous, and his worry has heightened all his emotions and sense of trepidation._

_And then he rounds the final corner. He falters as he draws closer to Airlia's apartment building, watching in horror as a multitude of protestors spill out of the side street. They are chanting 'Freedom!' as they march, and a man's voice is crying out for them to keep going to the government buildings. A fight erupts between some of the protestors and a group of guards just off to his right. A small group of men turn and look up into the window of Airlia's apartment and smile, as though they know that she is there, as though they know who she is._

_Damien's heart slams into his mouth and he lets out a strangled cry. 'NO!' he yells. _

_He doesn't even have to hesitate in order to make up his mind. The fact that Airlia would want him to leave and save himself only makes him want to save her more. _

_Damien quickens his pace, barely even breathing as he pounds across the street, intent on reaching Airlia's building so that he can save her. There are only ten steps left to go now. The man's voice shouts out once more and the group of men turn and begin to walk to Airlia's front door. Damien can't let this happen. He's frantic now, panicking. Only seven steps away from the protestors… Six… He stumbles slightly but rights himself immediately. He can't afford to fall down now._

_And now there are five steps to go…Four, three… Two… **One—**_

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A man darted past, knocking into the Doctor as he ran towards Oscar and the small group of men who were currently heading in the direction of an apartment block on the other side of the side street. The man was frantic, a wordless cry erupting from his mouth as a man the Doctor recognised as Hugo smashed the glass on the front door to the apartment building and reached in to open the door. Hugo gestured to the four other men who stood beside Oscar, and they all nodded and followed him inside. The running man screamed at him, 'No, no you can't! Airlia!'

Hugo shook his head and continued inside with the men. Oscar looked at the man, suspicion in his eyes. 'Who are you?' he demanded.

The man ignored him and tried to run past. 'I need to get to her,' he said as Oscar reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back from the apartment building. 'Get off me!'

Oscar held on tightly. 'Who are you? Do you know Airlia?'

The man was crying now, twisting and trying to wrench himself from the tight grip on his shirt. The shirt ripped and there was blood on his skin from Oscar's fingernails digging hard into his flesh. 'Leave Airlia alone!' he told him. 'Don't you dare touch her!'

'How do you know Airlia?' Oscar's voice was maddeningly calm, completely business-like and expressionless. It was clear he felt nothing for the man struggling to get away from him.

'Please!' the man cried. He pulled his hands up and shoved at Oscar, sending him stumbling away. The man whirled around to face the Doctor and Rose where they still stood at the side of the building. There were tears streaming down his face as he pleaded with them. 'You can't,' he said. 'Please don't let them get her.'

The Doctor stood expressionless, unsure of the best way to deal with this man. Hysterical strangers were not really his speciality. He glanced at Rose and she took the hint, stepping forward and reassuringly putting her hand on the man's arm whilst Oscar was still trying to right himself and regain his breath a few steps away. 'It's all right,' she said. 'Just calm down a bit, yeah? We can try and help you.'

The man took a few deep breaths, his tears slowing slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw the Doctor move away slightly to intercept Oscar and keep him away a little while longer. It was clear that the crying man was extremely distressed about something and that he didn't seem to be part of the revolution. Getting him more worked up wasn't going to get them any answers. 'I'm Rose,' she said. 'What's your name?'

The man looked her in the eye, apparently seeing something there that he could trust because he put his hands on her shoulders to steady himself whilst he worked through the last of his tears. 'Damien,' he said. 'My name is Damien.'

'What's happened?' Rose asked. 'Who's Airlia?'

Damien laughed sardonically. 'Don't you know?' he asked, the question obviously rhetorical. 'I thought you were with _them_.' He pointed at the men disappearing inside the apartment building.

'I'm not from around here,' Rose said as way of explanation. 'Please, just tell me what's going on and then we can help you.' She glanced round to see the Doctor standing just behind her shoulder and Oscar stalking away into the building with Hugo and the others. She wondered what the Doctor had said to him. 'Who's Airlia?' she asked again.

'She's my lover,' Damien told her bluntly. 'And she's the president's daughter.'

There seemed to be a momentary vacuum in the middle of the revolution, all sound suspended for a few seconds as that piece of information registered in Rose's mind and she knew that the Doctor would be coming to the same conclusion. 'They want her,' she said, nodding towards the building.

'Yes,' he said. 'But she's done nothing wrong. She knows _nothing_ of the government and everything that's been going on. She hasn't spoken to her father in over a year.'

'Do they know that?' the Doctor cut in. He didn't have to explain that _they_ meant the Liberal Rights Alliance.

Damien shook his head. 'No,' he said. 'Nobody knows. She was always very secretive about everything, but even more so about our relationship and her relationship with her father.'

Rose frowned. 'So they're going to… do what with her exactly? Ask her questions?'

'She's a trophy, Rose,' the Doctor told her quietly. 'It doesn't matter what she knows. She's a symbol of the regime.'

Realisation dawned immediately. 'They're going to kill her.'

'We have to stop them!' Damien cried. 'We have to get her out of there!'

In just under two seconds the Doctor had calculated all the risks involved with saving this man's lover versus the risks of leaving her in the hands of Oscar and the rest of the Alliance. Had he been faced with this problem yesterday, he might have been prepared to take the chance, but after having seen how willingly Oscar made people spill blood for their cause he wasn't so sure. He stared at Damien, seeing the genuine love and fear shining brightly in his eyes as he stared up at the apartment building that currently housed his lover. He nodded. 'Okay,' he said. 'We'll get her out.'

'Just like that?' Rose said. 'You're just gonna walk in there and take her off them?'

He looked at her, moving closer until his hand brushed against hers. He soaked up the contact, making the most of the feel of her fingers closing instinctively round his, cataloguing the sensation in his memory… _Just in case_, he told himself. 'It will be harder than that,' he said. 'Those men have a purpose, and I don't think they'll be dropping that any time soon.' His expression brightened. 'But don't worry! I'm sure we can do it. But we'll need somewhere safe to take Airlia afterwards, somewhere we can hide her until all of this is over.'

'I'm taking her away,' Damien said. 'I was on my way to meet her when these bastards came to kidnap her.' He didn't sound happy, but who could blame him?

'You won't be able to leave today,' the Doctor said. 'Everyone will be on the look out for you. The guards, the protestors, everybody. Didn't it occur to you that Airlia's father would want her with him if something like this happened?'

Damien visibly sagged. 'I'll take her to my apartment then.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'No,' he said. 'That won't be safe either.' He turned to Rose, hating himself for what he was about to do after he'd made her promise to stay with him, after he'd promised that he wouldn't leave her. If he had been closer to the wall he would have slammed his head into it. 'Rose,' he said, his voice more gravelly and desperate than he had intended.

'Doctor,' she replied, her gaze flicking to Damien and then back to the Doctor. She frowned when he looked at her somewhat sadly and held both of her hands tightly in his. 'What? What is it?'

He took a deep breath, stepping forwards until there was almost no space between their bodies. He tried to smile as she looked up at him worriedly, but he knew that she wasn't buying it. 'I need you to go to Ganjud's bar,' he said quietly, glancing around to make sure they weren't being overheard. Luckily, the noise of the revolution had escalated and nobody seemed to be taking any notice of them standing by a wall; they were all too intent on staying alive. 'Tell Ganjud that we'll be bringing the president's daughter in shortly, and we need to keep her safe. Tell him to get prepared.'

She nodded. 'Okay. Then what?'

The Doctor sighed, knowing this bit was going to be the hardest part to tell her. He braced himself for the slap he suspected was coming. 'And then stay there to wait for us. I can't take the risk that we'd walk straight past each other without evening realising it out here. I need to know that you're safe Rose.'

She studied him for a long moment, her eyes fixed on his face. She sighed, knowing there was no way she was going to win this argument. 'Okay,' she said. She reached up and cupped his face in her palm, leaning up to whisper in his ear. 'Promise you won't be long.'

He pulled back slightly to stare at her, aware that Damien was getting more than a little antsy. He smiled at Rose. 'I'll be as quick as I can,' he told her. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and handed her his psychic paper, pressing it tightly into her palm. 'Take that,' he said. 'Stay out of sight as much as you can, but if anyone questions you- guard or otherwise- use the psychic paper to bluff your way out of it. Okay?'

She nodded. 'Yeah.'

The Doctor sighed. 'I hate to do this Rose. But there's no other way.'

She offered him a small smile. 'I know,' she said. 'I'll see you later, yeah?'

'Yeah.' Acting on impulse, he dropped a quick kiss onto her lips before pulling away and pointing back the way they had come. 'Go that way,' he said. 'It shouldn't take you too long to get there.'

'See you.' She waved reluctantly and walked backwards for a few steps before turning around and squeezing back through the crowd of protestors still flooding out of the small side street. She slipped the psychic paper in her pocket, her heart pounding madly and the feel of the Doctor's lips on hers still fresh in her mind.

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The Doctor turned back to Damien. 'I suppose we better save Airlia then, huh?'

Damien looked at him appreciatively. 'That would be nice,' he said. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. 'Thank you for helping me,' he continued. 'It wasn't supposed to be like this. I had no idea that all of this…' He trailed off, gesturing at the scene around them.

'I know,' the Doctor replied. 'Come on.'

He led Damien over towards the apartment building, a dark sinking feeling spreading outwards from his stomach. This whole thing- the whole revolution that was happening today- was his fault. He had demanded that the Liberal Rights Alliance change their plans and strike sooner than they had intended to. And now look at the mess it had caused. He didn't want to tell Damien that his lover was in trouble because of something he had insisted on, and he certainly didn't want to make public the fact that all this bloodshed shouldn't have taken place until a long time after Damien had taken Airlia away from Eustance.

'Why were you going to take her away?' he asked as they hovered by the door to the apartment building, waiting until a fight in the doorway moved itself aside.

'To save her,' Damien replied. 'She hates it here; she hates what her father has done to people, and now she's in trouble because of it. She doesn't know anything. What are they going to do to her?' He made a dash towards to door.

The Doctor pulled him back to safety, knowing that if they moved too soon they would get themselves caught up in the violence and ruin their chances of this plan working out. 'They're not going to do anything to her,' he said. 'We're going to get her out of there.'

'Do you promise me that?'

He hesitated, knowing that he shouldn't make a promise he wasn't one hundred percent certain he could keep. But this man seemed to be at the edge of his sanity, his whole world coming crashing down around him as they stood and waited for an opportunity to save the love of his life. The Doctor didn't have to think too hard to know that if the roles were reversed and he was trying to save Rose from impending doom by revolutionising Alliance members, he would be going pretty crazy too. He hoped that she was okay right now. He looked at Damien with as much determination as he could muster. 'I promise,' he said.

The fighting men had finally moved away from the doorway and the Doctor grabbed Damien's arm, quickly pulling him inside the building before anyone noticed what they were doing. 'Keep quiet,' he whispered. 'Just in case.'

'We're going to save her, aren't we,' Damien whispered back, a statement not a question.

The Doctor sighed internally, a wave of nausea and insecurity washing over him suddenly and he found he couldn't bring himself to match Damien's love-blinded optimism. 'We're going to make our move,' he said instead.

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**A/N:** I hope that was okay! Next part will be up on Monday. Please review :D x


	12. Things Fall Apart

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews and support so far! This isn't my favourite chapter, but I hope it's okay :D

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Rose stumbled her way towards Ganjud's bar, tripping at least three times in her haste before she even reached Hansley Bridge. Protestors shoved and screamed at each other, screamed at her to join them and help to liberate herself. She kept her head down, breathing hard and feeling a thin line of sweat trickle down the back of her neck.

She wished that the Doctor was with her, that he was here holding her hand and making a joke to make all of this easier, taking her mind off the blood staining a wall just off to her right. She turned a corner and picked up her pace; there were fewer protestors in this area away from the government buildings and power district, but there was still plenty of violence here. Men fought with their bare fists and with glass bottles, and Rose couldn't be entirely sure what they were fighting over. She guessed that the revolution was definitely not going to plan- at least, definitely not going to the Doctor's plan.

She dashed down the street, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. The road to Ganjud's bar was just up ahead; not far to go now. A gang of fighting men spilled out of a rundown building immediately in front of her, the surge of bodies slamming into her and shoving her backwards to sprawl on the floor. 'Ohhh,' she groaned as a heavy boot slammed into her back.

The men threw punches at each other, apparently not noticing the girl sprawled on the ground. Rose pulled her strength together and rolled into the wall of the building before resting one hand on the wall to push herself up. She leant her head against the rough brickwork momentarily, breathing heavily as a sharp pain shot out from her kidneys. She could already tell that she was going to have a monster bruise from that kick, accidental though it was.

It scared her somewhat that she barely reacted to the violence in front of her, the blood leaking from one man's stomach hardly even making her feel sick in the way that it used to. She wondered if she had become conditioned to that sort of thing over her time travelling with the Doctor, or if it was simply because she had been in the presence of so much blood and violence over the last couple of days. She suspected- and hoped- that it was the latter. She didn't want to think that she could just accept violence and death with so little care.

A gunshot sounded out. Rose looked back down the road to see a bunch of protestors that she recognised as part of the Alliance marching into this quieter part of the district. Her gaze swung back to the gang of fighting men as one of them fell to the floor, blood spilling from his chest. His head cracked back against the dusty gritted road, his eyes rolling back to look at Rose. She swallowed heavily and turned away.

She ran as quickly as she could, wanting to put some distance between herself and the men dying behind her. All of her instincts were telling her to go back and help them, but she had no idea who they were and there was no way she wanted to be caught helping the enemy with the Alliance so close by. She also knew that the Doctor would probably explode with anger if she got hurt by getting involved with something when he had explicitly told her to go straight to Ganjud's bar and not get herself into trouble.

She turned another corner, gratefully putting that horrendous sight behind her. She slowed her pace slightly, feeling relief course through her as Ganjud's bar came into sight. The sounds of the revolution were almost non-existent from here, and for a moment she allowed herself to entertain the idea that everything was fine; that this was just another adventure with the Doctor where everyone was safe and there were no lives at stake in her hands. And then she went inside.

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'Come on.' The Doctor touched Damien's arm, calling him back to reality. 'We have to go now. Where is Airlia's apartment?'

Damien looked blank for a second, the worry in his eyes making him look years older than he was. He snapped his gaze back to look at the Doctor, doing everything he could to block out the sickening sounds of people dying outside coupled with the familiar noise of Airlia's front door opening, albeit with a bit more force than usual. His breath caught in his throat. 'Up the stairs,' he said. 'Fourth floor. Number 16.'

The Doctor nodded, his face impassive. It occurred to him that he really didn't have to help this man and that he should be with Rose instead, doing everything he could to take her away from here. But now, once again, he was in a situation when he had been separated from her whilst he got himself caught up in other people's affairs. And what's more, he was caught up in the affairs of the daughter of the tyrannous president of Eustance. Somehow it didn't seem like the smartest thing he'd ever done. He gestured that Damien should keep quiet and follow him, pulling the sonic screwdriver out of the pocket of his coat with his free hand. It was at moments like this he wished that he wasn't such a pacifist, and that he carried something with a little more pizzazz than a rather clever soniced-up DIY tool. Actually, he thought, scratch that. It was at moments like this that he wished he didn't do stupid things like encouraging revolutions when he didn't know exactly what would happen and ending up putting people's lives in danger. An image of Rose flashed in his mind as he and Damien ascended the first flight of stairs but he pushed the vision of her face away. It wouldn't help the current situation if he was caught up in worrying about her. He knew that she could look after herself. But then, he supposed, he also knew that she had a tendency to be rather jeopardy friendly, especially in already awkward circumstances.

He refused to let himself think about the matter any further, instead slowing slightly as they came to the top of the flight of stairs. He glanced around, Damien hovering at his shoulder and shifting about in the manner of someone who has had far too much caffeine in a short space of time- or someone who was desperately worried about the woman he loved more than anything. Whichever. A quick study of the corridor in front of them told the Doctor that there was nobody here who would try and stop them. He touched Damien's arm again and signalled him to move onto the next flight of stairs. He could tell from the look on the man's face that four flights of stairs had never seemed so arduous or soul destroying.

They spent the next five minutes carefully navigating their way around Airlia's apartment building, working their way up to the fourth floor without being intercepted by any of Oscar's Alliance members who may be on the lookout. The corridors were empty however; everyone was clearly either outside "revolutionising" or else they were sensibly attempting to hide away from all of the violence and murder.

Coming out of the stairwell onto the fourth floor, the Doctor turned to Damien. 'Left or right?' he asked.

'Left,' Damien replied. 'Then left again and then her apartment is straight in front.'

The Doctor nodded and held his finger to his lips as they cautiously made their way down the corridor. 'We just have to hope they don't flip out and kill us,' he murmured. 'There's no way they're going to let us take her easily.' He glanced at the other man. 'You might want to stay out of the way. I don't think they'll be that bothered about keeping you alive; they only want her.' He stopped walking momentarily until Damien nodded reluctantly.

Sounds of a struggle were evident as they approached the left turn a couple of metres ahead. Oscar's voice could be heard telling Airlia that they could either do things quietly and easily, or she could make it hard for herself. She appeared to take the first option as the sounds of laboured breathing and squeaks of pain trailed off to be left with quiet shuffles and Oscar telling Hugo to take the back stairs and go straight back to the base.

The Doctor pulled Damien back towards the stairwell, hovering back out of the way as two of the Alliance members came out of Airlia's apartment and took a left turn towards the back of the building. They were followed by Hugo and two others, Airlia in between them. Damien went stark white and opened his mouth to protest. An arm immediately clamped around his face as the Doctor muffled him and dragged him back out to the stairs as Oscar left the apartment, quickly scanning the corridor they had just been standing in before following after the other protestors. The Doctor watched until they were out of sight, his arms clamped firmly around Damien to hold him still.

The other man struggled free from the Doctor's firm grip on his mouth. 'You liar,' he said, unable to shout as he so clearly wanted to with all the tears that were currently clogging his throat. 'You said we were going to get her back. You just let them take her!'

'You think I was just going to walk in there and say "oh, hi guys, mind if I liberate you of the woman you think represents so much hate and murder?". Do you really think we would have got away with that?!'

'You promised,' Damien said quietly.

The Doctor nodded. 'I know I did.' He was really starting to regret that now, knowing that he had probably just lost his best chance of saving one man's lover from impending doom. 'But we know where they're taking her,' he continued. 'We know that they want information from her. I should be able to convince them to give me some time alone with her so that I can free her without them knowing.' He grinned madly, hoping he looked reassuring.

Damien looked sceptical, slumping heavily against the wall of the stairwell as an explosion sounded from outside. Blood sprayed up to mark the window in front of them. 'How do you know they'll leave you alone with her?' he asked, regarding the Doctor with suspicion. 'Surely if they trust you that much you'd be with them now.'

The Doctor sighed, knowing that he was going to have to admit the one thing he'd really being hoping to keep secret from this broken man. 'I…' he started, not knowing how to phrase the statement. 'I… _encouraged_ them to stage the revolution. If I can get them to do that, then surely I can get them to give me some time with Airlia?' He purposefully left out the part where he had convinced the Alliance to bring the revolution forward by a few months. He didn't think that Damien would like that much; if everything had gone to Oscar's original plan, Damien and Airlia would have been long gone before there was even a whiff of a major protest in the air. 'We have to go to Hansley Bridge,' he said, refusing to give Damien too much time to assess the importance of what he had just been told.

'Right,' the man replied, his tone implying that he was holding the Doctor solely responsible for any damage done to the woman he loved even if he wasn't directly involved- even though he was the only one helping to try and get her back. It was at times like this that the Doctor wondered which side he was really fighting for- a revolution for the greater good, or one man's private battle. He wondered which would be the more important at the end of the day.

The two men descended the stairs in tandem, any time for small talk done with. Now it was all about the business and, in all honesty, the Doctor decided that it was probably better that way. It saved the pain of attachments and losses, and it would mean that he could leave more easily when the time came.

They went back into the chaos of outside, dodging the crowd that was moving as one, pushing and shoving and chanting and proclaiming a victory that hadn't yet been won. The numbers of guards had trebled since the Doctor and Damien had gone inside the apartment building. They picked their way through the press of bodies, the Doctor resisting all of his natural urges to go and help the people who were falling in the street and being left where they lay. This wasn't his battle, although he couldn't help the guilt of knowing that it was at least partly his fault.

In just over five minutes they had managed to find their way to Hansley Bridge with only minimal injuries from the flying rocks and uncontrollable placard wielders lining the road. The Doctor wiped a small line of blood off his chin as they came abreast of the bridge, the Alliance headquarters now plainly in sight. Looking up, it was clear that there was at least a good couple of hundred guards lining the bridge and he wondered how Oscar had managed to drag the president's daughter past them without getting caught. But by the looks of things he had managed it- the guards gripped their weapons tightly and their vehicles were rocking with a tide of prisoners but it didn't seem as though there had been any recent disturbances here. The protestors had abandoned the bridge for somewhere a little closer to the real action.

'I'm going to need you to stay back once we get inside,' the Doctor told Damien.

Damien protested immediately. 'Why?' He whirled around to face the Doctor as they walked along close to the wall of the bridge to stay out of sight of the guards. 'You don't think I'll be able to save her?'

The Doctor shook his head. 'No,' he said. 'But they know who you are; they might try and take you too, and I don't think I can get both of you out of there on my own. You need to stay near the entrance of the building to take Airlia from me when we get out of there. You're no good to her if you end up getting yourself killed trying to save her.' He paused. 'Do you know Ganjud's bar?'

The other man nodded. 'Of course.'

'If I don't come out at the same time, you have to take Airlia there, okay? Rose will be there as well.'

'Right.'

The Doctor's eyes slipped shut for a second as he thought of what Rose would do if Damien and Airlia showed up at Ganjud's without him. 'If…' he started. 'If you have to leave without me, tell Rose that I'll be there as soon as I can. Tell her I'll come for her. But…' His hearts slammed in his chest as he attempted to come to terms with how stupid he was in what he was about to do. There was no way it could go completely as he wanted it to. He had to prepare just in case. They were standing outside the door to the Alliance headquarters now. 'Tell Rose that if I'm not there by the time night falls, that she should go back to where we first arrived and try to find her way home.'

Damien nodded. 'Okay. But I highly doubt she'd leave without you.'

'I know. But if I end up in trouble at least I can pretend that she's safe.'

The look of sympathy in Damien's eyes told the Doctor that the man understood better than he'd thought he would. This was a man who knew what it was like to hold someone close to them- perhaps too close. Damien flashed a smile, the first happy expression that had graced his face since he had left his apartment earlier in the day. 'You know what?' he said.

The Doctor frowned. 'What?'

'I won't tell her that.'

The Doctor waited, knowing that there had to be more to this; especially as they could already conceivably be inside the Alliance headquarters instead of hovering outside laying plans for an eventuality that he was going to do everything within his power to make sure didn't happen.

'You'll get out of there,' Damien said. 'You'll get back to her. I can see it in your eyes. You won't leave her to find her way home alone.'

The two men shared an uncomfortable yet appreciative silence for a few seconds until the sound of another explosion came from the direction of Airlia's apartment building. They snapped into action, the Doctor placing one finger on his lips as he held the sonic screwdriver to the lock on the door in front of them. It gave way quietly and they slipped through, carefully clicking it shut behind them. They walked through the inner door and down the short corridor to the metal wall with the security door.

The Doctor thumbed the settings on the sonic screwdriver and then held the button down against the touchpad, watching numbers flick past at lightening speeds on the small screen until the correct one was found and the mechanism gave way. He gestured to Damien to stay where he was. 'I'll meet you back here,' he whispered and pointed to a small alcove in the wall behind. 'Hide in there. I'll be back.'

Damien nodded. He reached out and grasped the Doctor's hand with his, shaking it firmly before letting go and squeezing into the narrow alcove. The Doctor grinned at him. 'Don't wait up,' he said.

The Doctor walked carefully into the vast main chamber of the Alliance headquarters, expecting to find Oscar and Hugo and Airlia in there. He hoped that he didn't have to beat the men up too badly to get her out of there unharmed. He hoped that they hadn't harmed her already. From what Damien had told him today it was clear that she was an innocent caught up in a big mess of guilt and death, and that didn't sit well with the Doctor's philosophy. He didn't react well when innocents were hurt.

He raised his eyes to the room, tugging on his left earlobe as he prepared a little speech to catch the attention of Oscar and Hugo. He stopped dead. 'Ah,' he said. He cleared his throat. 'Damien,' he called out- softly, just in case. 'Could you come in here a moment?'

There was a shuffling behind him and then Damien slipped in through the door. 'What is it?' He stopped next to the Doctor, the same stunned expression on his face. 'Oh.'

The cavernous room was totally, completely, one hundred percent absolutely empty.

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Rose burst into the bar to find Ganjud and Maurice talking frantically in a corner near the back door. Heather sat at a table a little way off from them, urgently shoving things into a bag and looking extremely stressed.

They all looked up as Rose collapsed against the door frame, breathing hard. 'The Doctor,' she panted out before she remembered the pseudonym the Doctor was keeping up whilst they were here. 'John,' she amended. 'John said-'

'Shhh,' Ganjud cut her off, stalking across the floor and grabbing her arm to drag her inside. He let her go and scanned the street outside before sighing and shutting the door, bolting it to make sure it was locked. 'Knew we should have locked that,' he muttered to himself.

'What did he say?' Heather stood up and led Rose over to the table, sitting her down on a chair. 'What's happened?'

Rose laughed. 'Surely you know about the revolution that's going on outside?'

'Yes,' Maurice replied, his expression dark as he walked over to lean on the table. 'We had become aware of it.'

Ganjud shot Maurice a look that Rose loosely translated as "back off." She paused for a moment until her breathing got back to normal, knowing that there was no point in relaying the Doctor's message if she was still hyperventilating. 'He said that they're gonna bring someone here,' she told them eventually. 'They're going to bring a woman here because she needs protection and he said that you should get ready.'

'Oh great,' Ganjud said sarcastically, before cursing loudly and slamming his fist against the wall. 'That's just what we need.' He swung back to Rose. 'I thought you two had left!'

She grimaced, unsure of how much information she should give away in this situation. Sure, Ganjud had given them a room to stay in and seemed friendly enough, but she hadn't been able to work out if the Doctor had properly trusted him or not. 'Change of plan,' she said dryly.

Heather frowned, laying her hand on Rose's arm to catch her attention. 'Who did you say your friend is bringing here?'

'Um, the president's daughter,' she replied. 'Her name's Airlia, I think.'

The tension in the room snapped like a cracking whip as both Ganjud and Maurice straightened up simultaneously, an indecipherable look passing between them before they both stared suspiciously at Rose. 'Why is he bringing her here?' Maurice asked casually, although there was still something forced about his manner.

'She's in trouble,' Rose replied. 'The protestors found out where she lives and they want to abduct her even though she doesn't have anything to do with her father's government.'

Maurice leaned down, his face only inches from Rose's as he asked, 'And how do you know this?'

She studied the man in front of her as renewed doubt began to set in. Something didn't seem right about this situation. 'We met her partner,' she said.

Maurice straightened up just as Ganjud leaned down. Rose was beginning to feel that this was something of an inquisition, and she could tell that Heather was thinking the same thing from the curious look on the woman's face. 'How did Mr Smith manage to get himself caught up in all of this madness?' Ganjud enquired.

'I seem to remember him saying something about how things would have to change,' Maurice added, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to Rose.

'Yeah, he did,' she replied. 'He's only helping to get Airlia safe because she shouldn't have been here at all. It's only because he convinced the Liberal Rights Alliance to start their revolution early that…' She trailed off, realising that she had just made a huge mistake in admitting the Doctor's role in the revolution. She mentally slapped herself and prayed that Ganjud and Maurice would appreciate the Doctor's liberalising nature rather than condemn him for it.

'Oh God,' Ganjud exclaimed as he moved away from the table and stood at the bar, his face in his hands.

'Ganjud?' Heather was out of her chair, walking over to her fiancé as he swore repeatedly and smacked the countertop with one hand. She laid her hand on his shoulder and he tensed beneath her touch before a tremor ran through his body. He fell silent but continued to grip the edge of the bar until his knuckles turned white.

Maurice was smiling at Rose, a sinister grin that did not look at all happy or positive in any way. He wrapped his hand around her arm, squeezing tightly until she gasped in pain. 'What are you doing?' she asked, suddenly very aware that things were going drastically wrong. She prayed that the Doctor would burst through the door and take her away.

'Bad move, sweetheart,' Maurice whispered into her ear.

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'Where is she?' Damien asked, panic in his voice and on his face. 'Where's Airlia?'

The Doctor spun around from where he'd been studying the layout of the large room. 'I don't know,' he said reluctantly. 'They said that they were bringing her here.'

'Did we get here before them?'

He shook his head. 'No.' He pointed at a small patch of blood on the floor near one wall, still damp and shiny. 'That's recent.'

'Oh my God.' Damien dashed over to the blood, dropping down on his knees next to it as though it might bring Airlia back to him if he stared at it long enough.

'Hang on.' A light bulb flashed in the Doctor's mind as he looked at the blood near the wall. A small trail of it appeared to disappear behind the wall itself, hiding itself from view. He walked over to it, running his hands over the wall until he felt something give and a small partition swung open. 'It's a pressure lock,' he said, surprised. He had been sure there were no other exits from this room apart from the security door. It occurred to him that perhaps the Alliance was a lot better equipped and smarter than he had thought, although he supposed it made a strange sort of sense. He had been wondering how they had managed to utilise one hundred thousand people in less than a day. They must have been very pedantic about their emergency plans. He turned back to Damien, who was standing behind him with his mouth hanging open. 'Fancy exploring the secret passageway?' he asked.

'Sounds excellent,' Damien replied, flashing a brief smile before following behind the Doctor into the narrow corridor.

They walked slowly and quietly. The Doctor guessed that they were walking towards the far side of the bridge, away from the vicinity of Valtallahan. The Alliance must have rented out the whole of the space beneath the bridge, setting up pseudo businesses to hide their presence here. It really was a remarkably simple yet clever set-up, the Doctor thought as he used the sonic screwdriver to light their way down the dark passage.

A scream rang out from somewhere nearby, tearing the Doctor from his thoughts. The shrillness of the sound made his blood run cold and he froze for a second before grabbing Damien's arm and making the man run by his side.

'Airlia,' Damien said, tears choking his voice. 'That was her.'

The Doctor grimaced as they came to a stop outside a door at the end of the corridor. The scream sounded again. 'I think we found her then,' he said.

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Rose felt her stomach lurch violently as Maurice held her tightly by the upper arms. She was straining to get away from him as he held her firmly against the bar, ignoring her protests when he shoved his body against hers to stop her kicking out at him. 'We haven't done anything!' she insisted for the fortieth time in about seven minutes. She held back a sob as she heard Ganjud slam a door upstairs, having dragged Heather off a few minutes ago under the pretence of making sure she "didn't get in the way".

'You started a revolution,' Maurice spat at her, pushing her down as she did her best to crack her head back against his.

She struggled to get a proper breath, doing her best to relax as she heard Heather screaming for Ganjud to let her out of wherever he had put her. 'I thought you wanted it,' Rose said to Maurice, trying to believe that the man hadn't been lying to her and the Doctor for the past two days. 'We thought you hated the regime.'

Maurice laughed, the sound echoing through her body and making her feel sick. 'Oh sweetheart,' he said. 'I _am_ the regime!'

Her stomach dropped and she fell limp between the hard wood of the bar and Maurice's chest. Her head fell to rest on the wood. 'What?'

Hot, filthy breath washed over her ear as the traitor who was restraining her bought his head down next to hers. 'I said I am the regime,' he repeated. 'I knew you and your boyfriend were trouble the second you showed up in this place. It's always dodgy when you catch people out after curfew.'

'You were out after curfew,' she protested, resuming her earlier struggling and wishing that the Doctor would hurry up and get here. 'You were scared that we were guards!'

Maurice laughed again and fiddled with his coat before laying out an identity wallet in front of Rose. 'I lied. I'm allowed out after curfew,' he told her as he pulled her head up by the hair so that she could read the paper he had put down. 'It's my job to catch people like you who have come to cause trouble.'

'But we didn't!' Rose was adamant that she and the Doctor had done nothing wrong- in no way was it their fault that time and space had cocked up and left them stuck in this hell hole. 'We never meant to come here at all! We didn't want to cause any trouble.'

Maurice was prevented from replying when Ganjud burst back into the room, bloody murder written on his face. 'Heather's secured,' he said, not meeting Maurice's gaze.

'Good,' the other man said. He jerked Rose up against him, one arm tight across her stomach and his other hand gripping her arm so hard that she knew she'd have finger-shaped bruises there later on. 'Help me get her out of here.'

Ganjud crossed to behind the bar, dropping down to the ground for a minute before straightening back up again. 'Okay,' he said.

Rose was dragged unwillingly to the back of the bar. She looked down and felt her head go woozy as she saw the hole in the floor, exposed when Ganjud had shifted a large slab out of the way. She caught his eye momentarily as he descended through the trap door and into whatever lay below. 'Sorry,' he mouthed at her as Maurice shoved her towards the hole.

Sorry wasn't good enough, she decided as she was manhandled down into the hole in the ground by two men she had thought she should be able to trust. Apparently her judgement had been way off. She hoped like hell that the Doctor showed up _soon_.

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**A/N:** This is the point in the story where I became obsessed with cliffhangers. Sorry! Next part will be up on Friday. Please review! Jen x


	13. The End Of Something

**WARNING** for torture (nothing too bad), assault, character death, angst and general nastiness.

**A/N:** I'd like to apologise in advance of this chapter. I'm really, really sorry. Really. In other news, I've finished drafting out the remaining chapters, so the story finally has an end. Yay! Hope you like :D

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The Doctor pushed Damien back against the wall and thrust a hand over his mouth when it looked like the younger man might cry out in horror. 'Stay here,' he said.

Damien shook his head, pushing away the Doctor's hold with surprising force. 'No way,' he retorted, his gaze set hard and his stance making it perfectly clear that he would not hesitate to do serious damage to the people who had been hurting the woman he loved. The Doctor had to admit that he definitely approved. He was feeling something pretty similar himself.

There was a sharp, pain-filled gasp from behind the door and both men immediately snapped into action, as though that was the one final wake up call they needed to convince them to move. 'Oscar!' the Doctor cried out at the same time as Damien screamed Airlia's name so loudly it echoed in the narrow corridor. They burst into the room, the door swinging angrily on its hinges and slamming back into the glossy wall behind it.

All sound stopped, all movement ceased and even time seemed to stand still momentarily as they took in the sight in front of them. Airlia was sprawled on the floor, blood staining her clothes so that she appeared to be dressed completely in red. Oscar and Hugo stood over her, both of them positioned less than a foot away from her prone body and yet both of them seemed completely detached as though they had nothing at all invested in the current situation. They were both breathing hard as Damien and the Doctor came to stand just in side the doorway, hatred visible in all of the men's eyes.

'Airlia,' Damien breathed. He lurched forward and dropped to his knees next to Airlia, forcing both Oscar and Hugo to take a step back and stare at the man in surprise as though they were in complete shock, as though all of the blood and the almost-dead woman on the floor was nothing to do with them whatsoever. Damien gathered his lover up in his arms, holding her head to his chest as his other hand pressed against a ragged wound in her stomach, trying to stop the flow of blood. The Doctor couldn't bring himself to tell the man that there was no point; the blood was already slowing, almost to the point of stopping completely. There was not enough time to fix her; Airlia was almost dead.

The Doctor stepped forwards, his hands clenching into fists as he fought everything within him that was telling him to take Oscar and Hugo, slam them up against the wall and choke them until the last breath left their bodies. He usually scared himself at times like this, but right now he didn't particularly care. 'You killed her,' he snarled.

Oscar smiled, his expression pragmatic and not at all apologetic. 'She's not dead yet,' he replied.

'We'll save you,' Damien whispered to Airlia. And then, louder, 'We _will_ save her.'

Everyone else ignored him as the Doctor surveyed the small room and Oscar and Hugo watched him carefully, as though they were naughty school children about to be reprimanded by the headmaster. Which, in effect, they were. 'You tortured her,' the Doctor said quietly, the even measure of his tone belying the guilt and anger and anguish he could feel coursing through his veins.

Oscar nodded curtly. 'That's right,' he said. It was clear that he was the leader here.

'Why?' He didn't really need to ask that- he already had a pretty good idea as to why- but the Doctor was stalling for time until he could get his temper under control.

'For information. She's the enemy'

'And did you get any information?'

Oscar stayed silent. Hugo shuffled nervously next to him before clearing his throat. 'Not of any use,' he muttered. All of a sudden it was almost impossible to imagine these two men as the leaders of a great revolution, and even harder to imagine them capable of torture. Perhaps it spoke well for the possibility of redemption, the Doctor thought. The fact that they were currently being so contrite suggested that they still had some semblance of souls left, despite all the atrocities they had committed today as well as any others that had occurred in the past.

'You killed an innocent woman for no reason,' the Doctor said, anger causing his voice to crack slightly.

'She's still alive,' Oscar repeated. He nudged Damien in the back with his boot. 'She's all yours mate.' And now the hardness was back, the determination that had first convinced the Doctor that the Liberal Rights Alliance would do a good job of the revolution. He just hadn't anticipated that they might do too good a job. Oscar's eyes were like stone in the harsh low-level lighting of the room.

Both Oscar and Hugo stepped back further, as if surrendering their prize. The Doctor wished that he was in any other situation than this one. He wished that he had the TARDIS with him so that he might be able to find some way to save Airlia, and in the process, save himself. He knew it had been a mistake to admit to Damien that he had been the one to encourage the revolution, and he couldn't honestly say that he would blame the man if he decided to rip him limb from limb if Airlia died. Although, in all truth and honesty, it was more a case of _when_ she would die, rather than _if_ she would.

Damien looked up from the woman in his arms, bringing his gaze to meet the Doctor's. There was pain there, and so many tears that he couldn't quite let himself cry whilst Airlia was still breathing, and anger flashing around the edges. He'd worked it out. And, once his lover was dead, he was going to want revenge. The Doctor swallowed heavily and hoped that Rose would still like him if he regenerated again.

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Rose pulled on the cuffs that bound her wrists high above her head- much too far above her for her to be able gain any kind of leverage. She shifted on the spot, trying to see if she could maybe pull herself upwards by kicking off the wall behind her. She almost screamed in frustration as the chains that held her provided no support in aiding any kind of defence tactic. The best she would be able to manage was a weak knee in the groin of either Ganjud or Maurice, and even that would be tricky. Her ankles were held in similar cuffs to those wrapped around her wrists, but the chains attached to them weren't long enough to lift her foot any higher than mid-calf level or to walk any more than a step in any direction.

She could hear Ganjud and Maurice arguing just outside of the room they had locked her in. Ganjud was adamantly telling the other man that they should take it easy on her, but Rose had decided not to appeal to him for help. She knew all too well that they might be playing "good cop, bad cop" with her, and she didn't want to seem weak by begging either of them to free her. She only hoped that she could get some answers out of them and find out exactly why they had her chained up in here as though she was guilty of some terrible crime before they killed her- if that's what their plan was. She had already deduced that whatever they were planning couldn't be good, but she knew that they must be scared of what she could do to them if they had taken the trouble to drag her off down a secret passageway beneath Ganjud's bar and put her out of harms way. Things were starting to fall into place now, but she didn't like what she was learning. She wished that the Doctor would hurry up and come for her, and hopefully kick up a right stink when he saw her manacled to the wall. She hoped that he hadn't run into trouble trying to free Airlia.

Ganjud and Maurice stormed back into the room, Ganjud going over to stand in a corner and stare sullenly at the floor, and Maurice slamming the metal door loudly before going over to stand directly in front of Rose. 'Tell me everything,' he said to her, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

She studied him carefully, keeping her mouth firmly shut and biting down lightly on her tongue so she wasn't tempted to say anything. Although, she wasn't really sure what he wanted her to tell him. She had no idea why they were doing this to her. She settled for relaxing as much as she possibly could and staring evenly at Maurice.

'I said, tell me _everything_,' he repeated, taking a step towards her so that he stood so close she could smell the smoke and booze on his breath as he breathed into her face.

Rose settled her head back against the wall and looked at him through narrowed eyes, hoping she appeared a lot more calm and casual than she felt. She could feel her heart racing inside her ribcage. 'Why don't you answer some of my questions?' she replied.

He smiled and rocked backwards slightly as his arms folded across his chest. 'Okay then,' he said. 'I'm sure we can oblige you that much. What do you want to know?'

She thought carefully for a moment, trying to decide what would be the best way to attempt to bluff her way out of this situation. 'Who are you two?' she asked, her gaze flicking between the men. 'You both work for the government or something?'

'Not exactly,' Maurice told her, his voice suggesting that they were having a perfectly normal, rational conversation rather than a tense stand-off. They may as well have been sharing a drink in the bar. 'I work for the regime, and Ganjud works for me.'

Ganjud hissed in a breath as his identity was given away, and Rose suspected that there might be some sort of blackmail going on between the two men. Perhaps they weren't as good friends as they'd tried to make out they were.

'Did you not wonder how the bar stays open?' Maurice continued. 'It's only because of the government that Ganjud's business stays running.'

'You bought his support,' Rose deduced.

Maurice nodded. 'That's right. In return for his loyalty and aide in certain… ventures, such as this one, the regime funds his business and does his accounts for free.' He turned to look at the other man. 'Although I think that perhaps the last few days has rather stretched his loyalties somewhat. Not that there is any alternative, mind. He has no other option.'

Rose watched as Ganjud stiffened, his gaze fixed on a point somewhere above Maurice's head. It was clear that he wasn't the most willing participant in this little organisation, but that didn't mean she blamed him any less. Sure, she felt sorry for him getting dragged into everything the way he had. He'd probably been close to bankruptcy and threatened with torture or death if he didn't agree to help the government in return for their financial aide. But she still didn't think that excused him completely. He wasn't exactly rushing to help her now, was he? She wondered if it would be different if it was his fiancée attached to the wall with chains. And, come to think of it, these cuffs were really starting to hurt… She suddenly realised that Maurice was speaking to her again.

'Did you have any more questions?' he asked.

She thought about it. There were questions that she could think of but didn't want to ask because she wasn't sure that she'd like the answers. "What are you going to do to me?" didn't seem like it would invite any kind of positive response from her point of view. After another moments pause, she asked, 'Are you married?'

Maurice was momentarily taken aback, and she could see Ganjud looking at her and shaking his head. _You shouldn't have asked that_ was written across his face. Something inside her dropped.

Almost as soon as his façade had dropped, Maurice's armour was back and fully intact. 'I was married,' he said. 'But then my wife was killed by a militant protest group because of my position in the government. And that's when I went underground and started doing what I'm doing now.' He paused. 'I probably shouldn't be telling you this.' He smiled cruelly. 'But I don't suppose it matters now.'

The expression on his face told her that he didn't expect her to live to tell anyone the story of his past. 'Did it hurt you when she died?' she said quietly.

He looked at her like she was stupid, and Ganjud watched her with a sad resignation in his eyes. She could tell from his stance that he thought she had just hanged herself- literally and metaphorically. He slumped back against the wall. Maurice stepped forward once more, only inches of air separating him from Rose now. 'Of course it did,' he told her, his voice suddenly raw and honest.

'So why do you do this?' She continued before she lost her nerve, sucking in a deep breath. 'Why do you hurt people when you know it hurts other people when they die?'

He bought his head close to hers, curving round to whisper in her ear. She was only just able to repress the disgusted shiver that wanted to break free with the feel of his hot breath washing over her skin. 'That is exactly the reason I do it,' he said. 'People hurt me, and the things that mattered to me, and so now I hurt people and the things that matter to them. It's revenge; payback.' He pulled back and appraised her again. 'So nothing personal, sweetheart.' He laughed. 'Well, not really. I don't care who you are as long as you're guilty. And I know for a fact that you are definitely guilty.'

'No, I'm not,' she told him adamantly, fully aware that the tables had turned and her time for casual questioning was over. The chains on her wrists rattled loudly in the quiet of the room as she shifted uncomfortably on the spot. 'I'm _not_ guilty.'

He shook his head at her. 'Yes,' he admonished her. 'Yes, you are guilty. You've just lost sight of your crimes, sweetheart.'

She smirked at him as his hand came up to rest by her head, his chest brushing sickeningly against hers. 'It sounds more like you're talking about yourself,' she said quietly.

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The Doctor finally stepped further into the room, deciding to take his chances by kneeling down next to Damien. He carefully brushed Airlia's hair out of her eyes to find her gaze glassy and weak. There was only limited life left in her body now, but he could tell that she had put up a good fight before they broke her. He wished that they had gotten here sooner. And now, once again, someone was dying because of him. He told himself that he'd have time to grieve later, once this whole mess was sorted out and he was back in the safety of the TARDIS with Rose, the whole anonymous universe spread out before them.

Damien pushed his hand away from Airlia. 'Don't touch her,' he said, his voice surprisingly soft considering the force of the shove. He rested his hand on her hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead as Oscar and Hugo looked on from behind him. 'Shhh, sweetheart,' he whispered. 'We're going to get you out of here. It's all going to be okay.'

Oscar snorted quietly, clearing finding it absurd that this man could hope so much when it was so obvious that there was nothing to be done, not enough time to heal Airlia's wounds before they got the better of her. The Doctor sighed, hating his obligation to be the one to tell Damien that there was no longer any hope. 'We can't…' he started, trailing off with a scathing look at Oscar and Hugo, hating them for what they had done. Hating himself for encouraging them to do it. 'Damien, there's nothing we can do for her,' he said quietly as Airlia went limp in the other man's arms.

'You promised,' Damien said stonily. 'You promised me.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'I didn't know it was going to be this hard. I'm sorry.' He averted his gaze to the ground as the previously unshed tears spilled out of Damien's eyes in a silent river. He didn't mind admitting that he was too selfish to bring himself to watch the breaking of this man. He thought that it just might end up breaking him as well.

'You _promised,_' Damien repeated through his tears. Airlia moaned softly against him, her fingers flexing as though they were searching for a hand to hold. Damien slipped his fingers around hers without even looking; it was obviously a natural reflex to him, he knew when she needed something and he gave it to her without hesitation. He stared at the Doctor, his gaze hardening as the tears slowed slightly. 'You _lied_.'

He couldn't deny it. 'I'm sorry.'

Oscar shuffled forwards. 'How long as she got?' he asked, as though he was a concerned relative and not the man that was responsible for torturing this woman to death.

The Doctor swallowed. 'Not long,' he replied truthfully, knowing that lies would not get him anywhere now. 'A few minutes, maybe.'

Oscar and Hugo conversed between themselves for a few moments before nodding and breaking apart. 'Then,' Oscar said. 'We have to go and announce the news. All of the others will want to hear of this.'

'Hear of what?!' the Doctor bellowed, standing up suddenly. Anger flashed in his eyes and something dangerous entered his expression. 'You going to go and tell the Liberal Rights Alliance of how its leaders are torturers? Murderers?! Is that what you're going to tell them? Just walk out there and tell them that you just killed an innocent woman?'

'No,' Oscar replied. 'We're going to go out there and tell them that one of the enemy is dead. We are going to tell them that we're on the road to victory. That this battle is almost won.'

The Doctor launched himself forwards, intending to pummel both men to the ground but Hugo was faster and Oscar was stronger. One man grabbed him as he charged them head on and the other slammed a fist into his ribs, knocking him back to sprawl against the wall. He knew immediately that he'd have an awful bruise there when all was said and done, but he didn't care. He thought that he deserved it. He breathed in shakily, feeling the pain from having the breath knocked out of him by the vicious blow.

And then, before he could move to stop them, or even get his hand on the sonic screwdriver that had been sent spiralling off into a corner, Oscar and Hugo were on the way out of the door. 'Maybe this will convince the government to surrender,' Oscar said, continuing on his little tirade as though the past ten seconds had never happened. He paused just before he exited the room, turning to look down at Damien and Airlia on the ground. 'Sorry,' he murmured, and then he and Hugo disappeared out of sight.

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Oscar and Hugo marched back to the entrance of the Alliance headquarters, neither saying anything to the other for fear of accusation and retribution. They had never done anything like this before.

They walked outside into the fading sunlight. The sounds of the revolution could be heard from just under a mile away, the sounds of bones snapping and people dying unmistakable in the otherwise stillness of the day. The two men stood for a moment and leaned against the wall, keeping their eyes open. It was better to be blinded by the sun than to be confronted with the visions of what they had done to a woman as soon as their eyes slipped closed.

A man sidled up to them. Both men instantly recognised him as George, although they both knew full well that wasn't his real name. He was a reliable informer for the Liberal Rights Alliance. They'd often joked that he was a government administrator by day, and the top of the most wanted list by night. The stupid government never had been able to figure out who was leaking their secrets and information. They never guessed that it would be a mid-ranked paper shuffler who, as far as the administration knew, never left his desk. 'I think you should know,' George said.

Oscar and Hugo looked at him curiously, knowing better than to interrupt him. George revealed his information in his own time, and he only ever gave them what he wanted to. Oscar had long suspected that he shared his secrets out between the different protest groups in the interests of building up a web of protection for himself if the shit ever hit the fan. Like today, for instance. George must be scared. And the fact that he was here with them suggested that he might want their help.

'I think you should know that the president has disappeared,' he blurted out. 'Nobody can find him. Not his family, not his office; nobody. He might be dead or he might be on the run. We don't know. So watch out, yeah? Keep on the look out.'

Oscar nodded as George fell silent; the familiar slump of his shoulders telling them that he had nothing more to give. 'Thanks,' he told the man before digging into his pocket and pulling out a key with the number "8" printed on it: safe house 8. 'Go there,' he told George. 'No one ever uses it. It's safe.' He sighed. 'You'll be safe.'

George nodded. 'Thanks. Knew I could count on you guys.' He disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

Oscar and Hugo turned to each other. 'Bit of a problem,' Hugo remarked.

'Yeah.' Oscar nodded, then a slow smile spread across his face. 'Or,' he went on. 'We could really make our president's mysterious disappearance work for us. Pretend he's dead. No one needs to know the truth.'

Hugo grinned as he caught on. 'I like your style!'

The men grinned at each other before dashing off to rejoin their revolution.

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Airlia's breathing was unstable, erratic. It was perfectly obvious that she wasn't going to last much longer. One minute, maybe two. Nothing more. The Doctor moved his fingers away from where they'd been resting against the pulse point in her neck, not wanting to feel the life ebb out of her any further. Damien too was starting to pull away. He bent and pressed a kiss to Airlia's blueing lips before lying her gently on the floor, smoothing a hand over her hair before standing up.

He looked down at the Doctor. 'I can't watch her die,' he whispered.

The Doctor nodded, fully understanding. He had never been able to watch people he cared about die, either. In fact, he'd made a rather strong stand on the subject with Rose not so long ago. _Rose…_ He wanted to be with her, wanted to feel her in his arms, her heart beating against his, her life strong and her body moulding perfectly to his. He _needed_ her. He stood and faced Damien, reaching out to touch the man's arm. 'Come on,' he said. 'We should leave.' _And get back to Rose._ He left that part unspoken.

And so they left the woman dying on the floor, something that they would both come to regret immensely over the coming hours and all the time left still to come to them. They walked away slowly, heading nowhere at first, although they drifted in the direction of the rose garden in the park of Valtallahan. The Doctor mistook the expression in Damien's eyes as sorrow, something he could fully comprehend, and so it was something of a shock to him when the other man's hand shot out and slammed into his ribs with a hard precision, exactly matching the blow he had received from Hugo only a few minutes before. He was on the floor in pain before they even reached the entrance to the rose garden.

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Rose was having a hard time believing that the pain would ever end. Ganjud stood quietly in the corner, refusing to look at her or even to lift his gaze from the floor, whilst Maurice quite literally rubbed salt into a wound on her collarbone. Although, she wasn't sure that it technically counted as a wound. More like he had just rubbed at her skin with something that reminded her of sandpaper until her skin was raw, stopping just short of drawing blood. Somehow she thought that it would have hurt less if he had made her bleed. She still didn't understand what he was trying to achieve. She choked back the tears, refusing to cry as he questioned her and pressed down sharply on her tender flesh.

'Who sent you to Eustance?' Maurice asked for what had to be the hundredth time, each word punctuated by a pause.

'Nobody,' she said, biting down hard on her lip to stop herself from crying out as Maurice took the sandpaper and scratched away at her other collarbone.

He looked at her as though he was convinced she was lying. Which, she supposed, he thought that she was. 'Then why are you here?'

She sucked in a breath as he dropped the scratchy paper and dabbed salt onto the resulting raw patch of skin. 'I don't know,' she said. 'We just ended up here.' A stray tear escaped her eye as Maurice pressed down on both wounds at once, making her want to scream. She was rather proud that she managed to stay silent, although her eyes were now fixed on the door, just waiting for the Doctor to come. 'Honestly!' she insisted as he hurt her some more. 'We were on Earth, in the House of Mirrors at a carnival in 1959, and then we were here! We never planned it! It just… happened.' She slumped her head back against the wall as the pain subsided and Maurice backed off a couple of steps, before realising it probably wasn't the best idea to expose her flesh to him and lowering her chin once more.

Maurice frowned and glanced at Ganjud. 'You think she's gone crazy?' he murmured.

'No.' Ganjud fixed him with a look that spoke volumes, although he still showed no sign of moving to help either Maurice or Rose in their respective causes. 'I think you're crazy,' he told Maurice.

'I wouldn't oppose me, Ganjud,' the government man said as he turned on his friend. 'You know what happens to people who do that.'

'Yeah,' he replied as his gaze flicked to Rose hanging from her restraints. 'I'm looking at it.' It was clear he was not impressed, but was scared to speak out.

Maurice growled low in his throat and stepped towards Ganjud, one hand moving to grasp at something inside his jacket. 'You wouldn't be thinking of converting now, would you?' he asked, sickly sweet and yet oh-so-nasty. He nodded at the space on the wall next to Rose. 'Because we can always make room for you too.'

Ganjud laughed. 'Yeah, right.'

'Yes, actually.' Maurice nodded and pulled a gun out from inside his jacket. Rose's eyes widened at the sight of the weapon, which still bore a pretty good resemblance to the weapons she had seen on Earth in the early twenty-first century. 'Or I could shoot you.'

Ganjud was almost doubled up with laughter now, his eyes creasing up as he watched Maurice hold the gun trained on his chest. He clearly thought that the man was not serious, and Rose began to wonder if Ganjud had somewhat lost his mind. She was just about to speak out when Ganjud sobered up slightly and said, 'Yeah, go on then, _shoot me_.'

'Really.' Maurice looked sceptical, although he cocked the gun, ready to fire.

Ganjud nodded. 'Yeah. Go on. Prove yourself. _Do it_.' It was clear that he didn't think Maurice would do it.

Maurice shot him square in the chest. Ganjud cried out in surprise as the force of the bullet knocked him off his feet and sent him flying into the back wall. Blood sprayed everywhere. Rose gagged as a glob of blood and ligaments streaked past her, the droplets spraying over her face before the mass hit the wall and slithered to the floor. She was too shocked to scream, to make a sound, to do _anything_. The iron of the cuffs dug into her skin, pinching the flesh and pulling until the skin spilt apart slightly, blood beginning to drip slowly down her arms and soaking into her zip-up jacket. She somehow didn't mind; the pain allowed her to focus. It allowed her to keep her head and prevent her from losing herself in anguish as her eyes locked on the dead man sprawled on the floor.

Maurice calmly turned from Ganjud's body and walked the few steps back over to Rose. He wiped the barrel of the gun on the fabric of her jacket, the still intense heat pushing its way through the material to warm her cool skin and make it red. Maurice put the gun away and then looked at Rose as though nothing had happened, as though he hadn't just killed a man. She stared back with the same expression, resigned to the fact that she was more than likely going to change because of this.

'Sweetheart,' Maurice said, the steel in his voice contrasting sharply with the sweetness of the sentiment. 'You'd better start talking, or I can do that to you too. And what would your precious _Doctor_ do then?' He smiled at her.

Rose thought that she might faint.

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**A/N:** Once again, I'm sorry. But it gets better! Just not for a couple of chapters… Please review! Jen x


	14. Here And Now

**WARNING**: is the same as the last chapter, plus a bit of swearing. I promise this is the last nasty one though, so stick with it!

**A/N: **Thanks for all the support and reviews so far! This chapter is another angsty/torturous/death-ridden one, but it starts to get better soon. I promise!! Only four chapters to go after this… :D

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'What do you mean, you just ended up here?' Maurice tormented her, malice in his voice and absolutely no sign that he felt anything about the fact that he had just killed a man who was supposed to be his friend.

Rose shook her head, not knowing what she was supposed to say but knowing that anything she did say would most likely end up resulting in pain of some kind. 'We just _did_,' she said, biting on the inside of her cheek. She had been determined not to cry, but the tears were stinging at her eyes and threatening to fall at any moment.

'Do you admit that you and your Doctor friend are responsible for causing this uprising?' He laid his hands on either side of her head, staring into her face and making her squirm.

She stayed silent; she knew that she couldn't afford to implicate the Doctor in any way. She would never forgive herself if he was captured and hurt because of something she had said.

Maurice nodded after a couple of minutes of intensely uncomfortable silence. 'All right then,' he said. 'We'll do this the hard way.'

Rose knew better than to ask what he meant by the "hard way", although it seemed pretty obvious that it wasn't going to be good. Her eyes locked on the door- the only way in or out of the room- and she imagined the Doctor bursting through it, eyes blazing and adrenaline fuelling him to deal with Maurice so that he couldn't hurt anyone ever again. Her wishes failed to come true as Maurice walked away from her to pick up a large knife from the table in the corner. He came to stand in front of her and methodically cut off her thin jacket, her new coat already having being discarded somewhere in the corridor outside. The material dropped to the floor in tatters, along with a few streaks of her blood as the man failed to take enough care and accidentally or otherwise cut her skin with the blade of the knife.

She shivered in the cold. 'Stop it,' she whispered, hating herself for resorting to begging but she knew that the Doctor wouldn't forgive her if he thought she had just given up and let her fate come to her without her doing anything to try and stop it. And then more firmly, she said, 'Leave me alone.'

Maurice laughed as though it was a great joke. 'Oh sweetheart,' he chuckled, wiping his eyes after chucking the knife back on the table. 'How can I do that when you won't talk to me? You're the one making this so difficult.' He wandered back over to the table, putting his back to her and fiddling with the instruments laid out ready for use. His tone dropped to a more casual, conversational level. 'How did you know where to go to get the support for a revolution?' he asked. 'Surely that would have been hard if you'd only just arrived here?'

She faltered, not knowing what to say and hating the fact that she couldn't see what he was doing properly. She decided to keep her mouth shut, deciding that there was consistency in her silence. Better than making up a load of lies but then forgetting what she had said if he re-examined her. She was fast coming to put a lot of faith in the phrase "silence is golden".

'Sweetheart?' Maurice said. 'Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to beat it out of you?' He turned back to her, holding a small bat in one hand. 'Hmmm?'

Rose sucked in a breath at the sight of the thick block of wood that she was sure would make a very good weapon in the current circumstances.

'Rose,' he continued, and she felt sick as he used her name. 'Are you going to tell me?'

She wondered how he could be so casual about this whole thing when he was clearly doing something that was so wrong on any civilised planet. Something that until just a couple of hours ago she had thought he would loathe the idea of. But then, she hadn't anticipated him killing his friend, either. Apparently she had stayed silent for too long, because Maurice slammed the bat into her stomach, hard enough to hurt and to bruise but not hard enough to cause lasting damage. She supposed that it meant she was too important to kill. _Maybe that counts for something,_ she thought, clamping her mouth shut and shaking her head when he tapped her with the bat in an attempt to prompt her to speak.

If only she could hold out long enough, then surely the Doctor would come. There was only so much pain a person could be expected to withstand before the cavalry came to save them.

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The Doctor pulled himself up into a sitting position, leaning his back against the bench near the entrance of the rose garden where he and Rose had sat earlier in the day as they waited for the revolution to start. He wished that he could turn time back to that very moment and run away with her whilst they'd still had the chance. Damien stalked towards him once again, and he braced himself for the blow.

It never came. The other man came to a stop inches in front of where the Doctor was sprawled, blocking out the little warmth that was offered by the weakening sunlight as the day began to draw to a close. The Doctor failed to suppress a shiver, and he told himself it was because he was cold rather than the menacing way in which Damien's hands were balled into fists at his side and the way his lip was curled in anger. He heaved himself up further to sit on the bench, collapsing backwards to lean his head on the wood and look up into Damien's face, trying to give the impression that he wasn't scared. He was scared, but not for himself. He was scared of what he had done; both to this man and his lover, and also to the planet as a whole. He wondered if perhaps in some cases, there might be something to be said in favour of dictatorship over revolution. The sounds still coming from a mile away in the district of government and finance didn't offer him much comfort that things were going all that well.

'She's dead because of you,' Damien said. His eyes were rimmed with red, partly from the cold and partly from the pain of the death of his lover. Because she would be dead by now, they both knew.

Even though they had left Airlia before she had taken her last breath, there was no way she could have lasted this long on her own in a cold chamber beneath Hansley Bridge. It must have been horrible for her to die in that way, the Doctor thought. Everyone was her enemy; there wasn't anyone that she could trust, apart from Damien. But he had loved her too much to stay and watch her die. The man's actions reminded the Doctor somewhat of himself, and so he couldn't blame him. 'I know she is,' he replied eventually. 'And I am so sorry. She didn't deserve to die.'

The anger flared up in Damien again, his eyes flashing. The Doctor didn't bother trying to stop the man when his hand lashed out and he slammed a fist into his ribs. He heard his bones crack in protest, and he made a mental note to check that nothing was broken as soon as he had the chance. He sucked in a breath. 'I know you're angry,' the Doctor said, holding up his hand when it looked like Damien was going to hit him again. 'And you have every right to be, but please, can we put this off for a little while? I understand if you want to beat me to a pulp; really, I do.' He shifted on the bench and felt the evidence of a good few bruises he knew he didn't have earlier. 'But Rose might be in trouble. I sent her off on her own, and now I need to go and make sure that she's safe.'

Damien looked thoughtful, but the anger still remained. 'Perhaps it will teach you a lesson,' he snarled.

The Doctor stared him in the eye, unfazed and doing everything he could to ignore the pain currently shooting outwards from his ribs. 'I don't think you really mean that,' he said, deciding to take a chance.

'But I do,' Damien retorted. 'My lover is gone because of you. At least your girl is still alive.'

He hoped like hell that she was. The Doctor knew that Rose would more than likely be okay at Ganjud's bar; it had lots of rooms that she could hide in if anything went wrong and Ganjud and Maurice would be there to protect her, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up in the way that they always did when there was trouble and he had a sickening feeling that Rose needed him. He decided that he wasn't beyond begging. 'Please,' he said. 'You can beat me up later. Just let me go and see if she's all right.'

Damien wavered. 'It wouldn't change anything.'

The Doctor nodded. 'I know that.'

'I still want to beat you to death for not being able to save Airlia when you promised me that you would.'

'Understood.' He nodded again. There was a pause then as Damien failed to move or say anything, the two men instead watching each other carefully and neither wanting to be the first to move in case the other tried something. 'Please,' the Doctor said. 'I know it sounds selfish, but I don't want to end up like you.'

'What?' Damien frowned, his fists clenching once more as he digested the Doctor's words. He wasn't entirely sure what he meant by them, but he was pretty sure that they were in some way derogatory.

The Doctor sighed. 'I don't want to have to kill anybody because they killed Rose,' he explained. 'I can't go back to the bar to find that she's dead. Please, I need to know.' When the other man still failed to move out of the way or make a move of any kind, the Doctor decided that it was time to resort to low and desperate measures. He hated himself before the words even left his mouth. 'If it was Airlia, you would want to go to her, wouldn't you?'

That did it. Damien's resolve broke and he nodded, tears slipping out of his eyes and spilling down his cheeks as he collapsed to his knees and began to sob. The Doctor wondered if perhaps he had just inadvertently managed to kill somebody else.

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Rose sucked in a shaky breath, her ribs hurting from where Maurice had just hit her with a heavy chain, having decided that the wooden bat was no longer doing the job. He still had not stopped asking her questions, and she had still not told him anything that he considered useful. She wasn't sure she could stand this anymore, and decided that the next question he asked she would answer in any way she could. Just to make the pain stop.

Seconds later, Maurice let the chain in his hand hang down by his side. He showed no signs of exertion, and no signs of stopping or slowing down. It was clear that he wanted to pin this revolution on someone, and it was clear that "someone" was more than likely going to be Rose and the Doctor, if he ever showed up. 'Who is responsible for this revolt?' he asked, swinging the chain so that it grated along the floor threateningly. Rose could still hear the sound it made when it had cracked over her, the free end smashing into the wall with a sickening clang.

She sighed, knowing that it was now or never. 'The Alliance,' she said, surprised at how husky and dry her voice sounded. It hurt her throat to speak.

Maurice smiled and slowed his swinging of the metal chain, obviously thinking that he had broken her. 'What Alliance?' he questioned her.

'Umm,' she said, trying to act as though she had to think about it. She decided that the dumber she played it, the better it would be for her. At least she was speaking now, even though less than half an hour ago she had pledged not to say another word to this man unless it was to profess her hate to him once the Doctor had come to save her. But the Doctor still hadn't come, and so Rose had reached the conclusion that enough was enough. 'The Liberal Rights Alliance, I think they were called,' she said.

'And how did you know where to find them?'

She thought about it. She knew that she couldn't tell Maurice about Sadie; the old woman wouldn't last three minutes in his company without going insane. And she doubted that Oscar would be pleased if he ever discovered that she had reamed out his mother. 'A leaflet,' she said instead, and then clamped her mouth shut so that she wouldn't be tempted to give anything else away.

'Right,' Maurice nodded. He chucked the chain back on the table and turned to face Rose with a glint in his eye. Obviously it was time to try yet another new tactic with his difficult prisoner. 'Let me tell you a story,' he said.

Rose frowned, unsure of where this little diversion was heading. But then, she decided, as long as it didn't involve finding strange and creative ways of hurting her then she didn't particularly care. Story time would give the Doctor some extra time to get his arse into gear and get here. Surely it couldn't have taken this long to rescue the president's daughter, she mused.

'Two years ago,' Maurice started, walking to lean casually against the wall opposite Rose. 'Two years ago, I hated everything that the government did. I was proud to say that I hadn't been one of the fools who voted them into office and then regretted it ever since. I didn't even vote in that last election. I was a member of an opposition group- a slightly more militant organisation than the Liberal Rights Alliance, though. I was responsible for the closure of Hansley Bridge on more than one occasion, and you can imagine the disruption that would cause. Everything descends into madness when the main trade route out of Valtallahan is closed off. The markets went into freefall a couple of times.'

He trailed off, and Rose found herself willing him to continue, wanting to know where this story was going. She had to remind herself not to get too caught up in Maurice's words; she didn't want to be so distracted that she didn't see something coming.

'But then one time,' Maurice continued, false confidence suddenly evident in his voice. 'I got careless. Me and a mate of mine were caught by the guards and hauled into custody. They killed him within hours; he was leader of the organisation and they knew that he was dangerous. He had friends everywhere and they couldn't risk keeping him alive in case somebody came to get him out. They killed him in front of me, just like that.' He snapped his fingers to prove his point. 'But they obviously decided that they wanted to keep me alive for something.'

'What happened?' Rose asked quietly, in spite of her decision not to get caught up in the story.

He smiled sadly, the first really and truly human emotion that was evident in him since he had first revealed his true identity back in Ganjud's bar. Rose's stomach lurched as she thought of the man's lifeless body on the floor only a few metres away from her, the smell of death evident in the air. 'They convinced me that I was wrong. They convinced me that they were right. They convinced me that life with them would be better than life against them. They convinced me to join them. And you know what, sweetheart?'

She shook her head. 'What?' she asked when the man failed to continue on.

'It was the best decision I ever made,' he said eventually. 'The things I did were wrong. The things you've done are wrong. You need to be punished for them. But I'm not going to kill you,' he told her. 'And do you know why?'

She said nothing and shook her head, although she was terrified that she already knew the answer to Maurice's question. However, admitting that would be tantamount to submitting herself to him and admitting that he had won.

'Because I'm going to convince you that you're wrong and that I'm right,' he clarified for her. 'I'm going to convince you that life with me and the regime will be better than life with that renegade Doctor of yours. I'm going to convince you to join us. And it's going to be the best decision you ever made.'

Rose shivered, but not because of the cold room. She suddenly felt sick and faint, and she hoped that her mind was as strong as she wanted it to be. She couldn't let herself be taken in by Maurice's words and the promise of a better life. Because, she thought, what could be better than a life with the Doctor? There was nothing that this man could offer her that she should be tempted by.

Maurice nodded over to the table filled with implements ideal for maiming and torturing a human being. 'All of those things were pretty good at convincing me,' he said. He grinned widely. 'And besides, if you can't beat them then join them, eh?' He laughed at his own sick joke before kicking away from the wall, a thoughtful expression spreading over his face. He walked over to Rose and studied her intently. 'You're still not speaking properly,' he said, and then the thoughtful expression entered his tone of voice. He said, cryptically, as he turned away and headed back towards the door, 'We need some ice.'

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Damien and the Doctor sat side by side on the bench, both leaning forwards with their elbows resting on their knees. Neither of them had spoken in long minutes, both of them knowing that the only reason one of them hadn't killed the other yet was because of two women that were very dear to them, and from which both of them were currently separated- and one of those separations was permanent.

'Please,' the Doctor whispered, scared that if he spoke any louder then Damien would break out of his current quiet reverie and start pummelling him again. 'Please. I need to go to her. Don't let anyone else die because of a stupid mistake I made.'

The other man sighed. 'Airlia was the best thing that ever happened to me,' he said. 'I loved her from the moment I saw her, right here in this park. She was reading a book.' A smile passed over his face momentarily, but it was gone again as soon as it had appeared. 'She was always so young, and _so_ beautiful. She was perfect.' His expression dropped. 'And now she's gone.'

The Doctor rested a hand on his shoulder, unsure of whether the small comfort would be welcome or not. 'I'm sorry,' he said once more. 'I really am, Damien. But please, I don't want Rose to be gone as well.' His voice faltered and cracked as he finally voiced feelings that he had kept to himself since the day he and Rose had met. 'Because how you felt about Airlia,' he said. 'That's how I feel about Rose. Please don't let me lose her.'

A look of reluctant understanding passed over Damien's face and he stood up on shaky legs, prompting the Doctor to do the same. 'All right,' he said quietly. 'Let's go and find her.'

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Icy water dripped down her arms in rivulets as Maurice held an ice cube just below the sleeve of her t-shirt. Apparently he was now attempting to freeze her half to death in his attempts to make her give herself up. She knew now that he would never break her though. In telling her his story, he had also made her confident that she would never join the ranks of the government's regime, no matter what this man did to her. It had been stupid of him to tell her what he was doing, and it had made her angry that he thought he would be able to garner her support. Rose Tyler was nobodies fool.

'What you gonna do if the government gets overthrown?' she stuttered out, her teeth clattering together as Maurice lifted the hem of her shirt and pressed ice into her stomach. 'And watch where you're putting your hands!' she snapped at him.

He laughed as though she amused him. Ignoring her second comment as he continuously danced the frozen block of water over her abdomen, he told her, 'It doesn't matter if the current government gets overthrown. Their ideology will live on even if they do not.'

'You planning on carrying on with that then, yeah?' She suppressed a shiver, and was absurdly glad that the cold was numbing the pain in her wrists and shoulders where she was hanging awkwardly in chains, the metal cuffs cutting into her skin as she shifted. She wouldn't be surprised if her shoulders suddenly gave under the strain and dislocated. She wondered if she could somehow con Maurice into freeing her hands or, at the very least, lengthening the chains so that her arms weren't under so much pressure.

Maurice nodded. 'I intend to do exactly that,' he informed her. 'The revolutionaries will never be able to kill every single one of the government's supporters and employees. Their legacy will live on long after they are gone.'

Rose shivered, unable to keep her teeth from chattering uncontrollably. She was so cold. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be truly warm over the last few hours. As silence fell in the room, she imagined being back in bed with the Doctor, his arms around her holding on to her tightly and keeping her safe, his warm embrace spreading gorgeous heat through her, his life melding with hers.

'What are you thinking about?'

She snapped back to reality at Maurice's words, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to come up with something to say. No words left her mouth.

'I think I know,' the man continued on. 'You were thinking about your Doctor, weren't you sweetheart? Or _John Smith_ as he called himself, as if we were ever going to fall for that.' He pulled his hands away from her then, dropping the half-melted ice cubes to the floor and Rose breathed a sigh of relief. His expression hardened. 'Is he a good fuck?'

'What?' she cried, the crude obscenity making her blush. She contemplated lying and saying that she had slept with the Doctor, just to see what Maurice's reaction would be. But no, she decided. Her relationship with the Doctor was nobody else's business, and it especially wasn't the business of an evil man who tormented and tortured people for a living. She shivered again, but not exclusively because of the cold.

He chuckled. 'I was asking you if he's good in bed.'

Rose cringed, bile rising in her throat.

'Answer me sweetheart, or I'll have to just assume that he's useless. And then maybe I could show you myself how it's supposed to be done.'

She spat in his face, a glob of saliva making its way slowly down the side of Maurice's face. He look startled for barely a second before he let out an enraged yell and his hand connected with her cheek, slapping her so hard that her bottom lip split open and a thin line of blood tricked out. He leaned close to her face. 'I don't appreciate that kind of behaviour,' he told her coldly. Her heart was pounding madly as his eyes flicked down to the blood at her mouth. He touched her lip with one finger, pulling it away to see it covered in red. He grinned. 'Let me kiss it better for you,' he said.

_Oh God._ Rose felt her stomach lurch and the blood rush from her head as Maurice's lips crashed down onto hers, pulling her split lip in between both of his and sucking it clean of blood. She tried to pull away, but only succeeded in smacking her head back against the wall behind her. The chains binding her wrists creaked as she tried to swing away from the man who was sucking at her face like a leech. Not a millisecond too soon, he pulled back. His lips were coated in her blood as he grinned at her.

Rose heaved as soon as she was free from his grasp, but nothing entered her mouth apart from the taste of a small amount of bile and a stranger's saliva on her lips. Her stomach growled as though it had only just realised she was hungry and her head felt woozy. She slumped back against the wall as Maurice whirled away from her to stand in front of the table, fiddling with something he found there. She realised suddenly that this was no longer a game to him; this was business, and he had just taken things to a whole new level.

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The Doctor and Damien finally reached Ganjud's bar after five minutes of all-out sprinting from the rose garden in the park of Valtallahan. The Doctor first knew that something was terribly wrong when he tried to push the door open and it wouldn't budge. He knew he didn't have time to analyse the situation however, as he pulled out the sonic screwdriver and made quick work of the lock, not caring as it blew apart a lot more savagely than these things usually did.

Both men were almost on autopilot as they entered the bar, the door slamming back to crack against the wall. The room was empty, but there were signs of a struggle that had to have happened at least an hour ago, if not more. One table was overturned and a chair was demolished next to it. A half-packed bag of clothes and documents had been slung in the corner. The Doctor wandered over to the long wooden bar and he knew immediately that Rose had been here. He could smell her presence as he ran his hand over the smooth wood, and he imagined that he could feel her fear. What had happened here?

A muffled thumping coupled with quiet sobs was coming from upstairs, in the room above the main bar. Ganjud had pointed it out as his own bedroom on the first night that the Doctor and Rose had stayed here. 'Let me out,' the sobbing voice said, the words barely distinguishable through tears and an insulated ceiling. 'Please.'

The Doctor turned to Damien, everything starting to click into place but he didn't think he liked what he was realising. 'Go and help the woman upstairs,' he said. 'Her name is Heather; she's Ganjud's fiancée. I'm going to find Rose.'

Damien nodded, and then frowned. 'How do you know that Rose isn't here?' he asked.

It was a good question, one that the Doctor didn't really have a proper answer to. 'I just do,' he said. 'I'd feel it if she was here. I think she's close by though.' And he could tell that she wasn't far away even without seeing proof. His heightened sense of smell was telling him that her scent got stronger behind the bar. He walked around to the serving area and found that he had been proven correct; there was an open trapdoor in the floor, with a ladder leading down into a narrow stone corridor. This wasn't good at all. He turned back to Damien. 'Go and get Heather,' he said. 'Wait for us here, okay? _Don't_ go anywhere. And don't follow me.'

The other man only hesitated for a moment before he nodded and disappeared towards the back of the bar. The Doctor heard him move a chair before opening the door that led upstairs, his footsteps gradually fading away as he ascended the long staircase.

Turning back to the matter at hand, the Doctor knew that he couldn't waste any time in getting to Rose. She had to be in trouble. There wasn't any other possibility now. There wasn't even the possibility that Ganjud and Maurice had taken her through the trapdoor to hide; Ganjud never would have left Heather alone upstairs if there had been any sign of trouble from outside.

This was all his fault, he knew. He never should have told Rose to go off on her own; he should have foreseen that it could only end in disaster, just like everything else seemed to on Eustance. The only positive thing that had happened since arriving here had been the rather rapid development in the intimacy of his relationship with Rose. He hoped that it was something they would still be able to keep up once they were back in less intense circumstances. And they _would_ get back to less intense circumstances, he decided. Even if it meant leaving this place with the job still not completely done, he had to get them both away from here because he knew that it was slowly killing them. They should have found the doorway back to Earth when they were in the back room of the bakers' shop and left this place far behind, regardless of the circumstances. Because, the Doctor decided, it was okay to be selfish sometimes. Even if he was the last Time Lord in the universe, he still deserved a little self-indulgence occasionally. Especially if that self-indulgence would save Rose's life.

He dropped down through the trapdoor and into the corridor below, landing as quietly as a cat. It was a one-way path, leading away from the bar and back in the direction of Hansley Bridge. Using the sonic screwdriver as a torch, the Doctor carefully walked down the corridor. He stopped after only a few short metres, spotting something bunched up on the floor. He reached down to pull up the coat Rose had bought yesterday at the shop. It was dirtier than it had been when he last saw her and one of the sleeves was slightly ripped, but it was definitely her coat. She was down here somewhere. And someone was going to be on the receiving end of a lecture on the importance of not giving Rose frostbite and hypothermia by taking her coat when it was absolutely bloody freezing.

He started walking again, feeling sweat break out on his forehead despite the cold atmosphere. A faint moan could be heard from around fifty metres ahead, and he picked up his pace at the sound until he was practically sprinting.

The Doctor came to a stop outside a metal door, breathing heavily. The moan came again, this time much louder and clearer and filled with pain. His hearts slammed to a stop. _Rose._ Without hesitating, he kicked the door dead in the centre, not in the mood for niceties of knocking or sonic screwdrivers. The door swung open, banging against the wall behind it.

The sight before him made his blood run cold.

Rose, with blood on her face and her body, her hands pulled tight above her head. Her breathing was weak and irregular, and he could see bruises already forming on her arms and her torso where her t-shirt had ridden up. Patches of skin had been rubbed raw on her collarbones, and he filed away a note to himself to make sure they weren't infected. Maurice stood to the side of her, a large rusty chain in his hand and a sinister smile on his face. Ganjud lay dead in the corner, his chest shot open by a bullet. The Doctor wanted to be sick.

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**A/N:** Sorry it's bad… But it will get better. All reviewers get a happy Disney movie to brighten the mood a little bit. Until Friday, Jen x


	15. Saviour

**A/N:** Hopefully the website has been fixed now so you guys will actually be able to read this! Thank you for all your lovely support and comments so far, it really means a lot. Only three chapters (and maybe an epilogue) after this one! Enjoy :D

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'Move away from her.' The Doctor was scared at the venom he heard in his own voice as he stood frozen in the doorway, shaking with rage and guilt and shock.

Rose's eyes locked on his, and he could see the relief that flooded through her expression coupled with the pain from whatever the bastard standing next to her had done to her. Maurice had whirled around at the sound of the Doctor's voice, and now moved to stand between Rose and the angry man at the door, a sick smile gracing his face. 'Mr _Smith_,' he said. 'Or should that be the _Doctor_?' He laughed as though he had said something amusing.

The Doctor grappled with his anger, telling himself that it wouldn't be a good idea to just march in and start mouthing off. With the chain in Maurice's hand and the table full of sharp and harmful instruments, he didn't think it would be beneficial to play with fire like that. Not while Rose was in the room with no way to help herself. 'I told you to move away from her,' he repeated menacingly. He purposefully kept his eyes off Ganjud's lifeless body in the corner; that was an issue that could be dealt with in due course once he knew what was going on and he had got Rose safe.

'I heard you,' Maurice said as he sauntered closer to the Doctor. 'I can tell from the expression on your face that you weren't expecting to see me here.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'No, on the contrary, I was fully expecting you.' His shoulders slumped slightly. 'I just wasn't expecting you here… like this.' He caught Rose's gaze again and sent her a silent message _I'm so sorry._ He cleared his throat. 'Move _away_ from her,' he said for the third time.

Maurice laughed. 'Now why would I want to give you access to my prisoner?' He stepped back to Rose, moving to hold the chain up against her body. She shuddered and swallowed as his hand brushed against the raw skin on her collarbone. 'I'm very glad that you could join us though, Doctor,' he continued. 'I was wondering when you would be showing up. Have you bought the president's daughter with you?'

There was no answer. The Doctor knew without asking that hearing about Airlia's death would undoubtedly make Maurice angry. It was suddenly clear that the man was part of the regime he had just organised a revolution against, and he highly doubted that revealing his responsibility in the death of the president's daughter would endear him any to the man.

'I asked you a question Doctor.' Maurice swung the chain in his hand, the loose end scuffing threateningly against Rose's hip.

'She isn't here,' he replied, not willing to take the risk of not answering. It was clear from her injuries that Rose had also had to battle with the debate over whether to respond to questions or not. He couldn't tell just exactly how successful she had been in that, although it was obvious from the livid expression on her face as she regarded Maurice that she was a long way from being broken.

The other man sighed, lifting his arm to trail his hand down Rose's cheek and smirking when she gasped and pulled away, causing the chains restraining her to rattle loudly against the wall. 'Are you sure?' he asked the Doctor, his hand moving downwards to hover over the wounds on Rose's collarbone.

'I'm positive,' the Doctor replied. 'You can search the place to check, if you like. Hopefully it's obvious enough that I'm not hiding her in my jacket.'

Maurice regarded him carefully, clearly not believing him. He dropped his hand to press against Rose's wound, making her cry out as tears welled up in her eyes.

'Leave her alone!' The Doctor abandoned his plan of the careful waiting game and was across the room in two strides, reaching out to grab Maurice away from Rose. But the other man was faster, pulling a knife out of nowhere and holding it to her throat.

'Back away,' he said. He pressed the tip of the blade into her neck and twisted it slightly, a drop of blood spilling out to run down Rose's ivory skin and soak into the collar of her t-shirt. Her eyes widened but she made no sound, and this hurt the Doctor more than anything else about this nightmare situation. It was clear that Rose had become accustomed to pain in the time she had spent at Maurice's mercy.

The Doctor took a step back, holding his hands up and knowing that panic would be clearly visible in his eyes. He focussed his gaze on Rose, knowing that if he looked at Maurice then he was likely to want to cause the man great harm. He thought again of how they should have left Eustance before the revolution ever happened. He wondered if Rose would ever forgive him for what was happening now. 'Okay,' he said. 'You can put the knife away now.'

The knife was lowered but it didn't disappear completely, instead hanging down at Maurice's side where it could be utilised again in a split second. 'I think you underestimated me, didn't you Doctor?' he sneered. 'You came here and you just _assumed_ that I was a poor man on the street, on the run from the evils of this planet. You bought every little lie I told you. But let me ask you this- that first night, did you not wonder why you found me on the street but then I went inside after we had finished talking?'

There was silence in the room, and so Maurice continued on.

'I saw you coming,' he said. 'I came out to wait for you. Everything that has happened to you since then has been manufactured, a lie.' He paused and cocked his head. 'Well,' he amended. 'Everything but this. This is very real.' He laughed.

The Doctor nodded. 'You're right,' he admitted. 'I misjudged you. That was foolish and I'm very sorry. But _please,_ just let Rose go. None of this mess is her fault. None of it at all.'

The other man smiled haughtily. 'I'd like to believe that,' he replied. 'But I'm afraid to say that I don't believe that is the case. Not from what I've been hearing.'

'_Believe_ me,' the Doctor insisted desperately, not caring what happened to himself now as long as Rose was safe. He could see her drooping against the pressure of her restraints, the metal cuffs digging into her skin. He could see dark red rings on her wrists where the bindings had slipped and the sight made bile rise up in his throat. He wanted to hold her.

'Can I take this to mean that you are accepting full responsibility for the uprising that is currently taking place in the vicinity of Valtallahan?' Maurice demanded forcefully, his tone suddenly interrogatory and official-sounding.

The Doctor nodded. 'Yes, that's right. I'm guilty of helping the people to liberate themselves, and of causing an oppressive government to be put under pressure and hopefully overthrown. I'm a guilty man. I'm guilty of a lot of things. But I'm _not as guilty as you_,' he hissed. 'You torture people without the slightest remorse and the lies you've told are disgusting. And that's only the things I know about. Who knows what else you may have done.' He stepped forward, truly angry now as his voice increased in volume and his fists clenched at his sides. 'And you're also guilty of hurting something that is very, very special to me and now let me tell you this, _matey._' He was standing right up close to Maurice now, could smell his sweat and Rose's fear as he yelled in the man's face. 'You _will_ pay for that.'

His hand shot out and grabbed Maurice's arm, twisting until the man dropped the knife. He then slammed him back against the wall, uncaring of the hands that shoved at his chest and cuffed him round the back of the head. The Doctor's anger had been brewing since he stepped through the door, and now Maurice was going to pay. He shoved the man viciously, feeling a sick kind of satisfaction as his skull cracked against the wall and he winced in pain. 'Oh yeah,' the Doctor added. 'I also suspect that you're guilty of killing Ganjud. And you should know that murder _doesn't_ sit well with me.' He punched Maurice in the face, his nose giving way and blood spurting out to coat the Doctor's hand. His head lolled on his shoulders as he was lowered unceremoniously to the floor, unconscious.

The Doctor stood staring down at the man at his feet for a moment, wondering if he should be worried at the lack of remorse he felt for the injuries he had just caused. He wondered if it was a bad thing that he felt good for what he had done, that he didn't particularly care if Maurice ever woke up. Rose's soft sob bought him back to reality and he snapped his head up to meet her gaze, crossing the short distance to stand in front of her. 'Rose,' he said as he knelt down and unlocked the cuffs at her ankles with the sonic screwdriver.

She stumbled on the spot, swaying precariously as her restricted blood flow righted itself. The Doctor held her hips gently to steady her as he lifted the cuff of her jeans to see the red welts on her ankle. His stomach lurched and he stood up, keeping his eyes on hers as he carefully reached up to unlock the chains that held her wrists. She fell forwards into him as soon as they were opened, tears spilling from her eyes as the pressure on her arms was released and the Doctor put his arms around her and held her close, one hand moving lightly over her hair.

'I'm so sorry,' he whispered to her. 'I had no idea what I was sending you into.' He swallowed around the lump in his throat, determined that he wouldn't cry until they were safe and sound and back in the TARDIS. He drew back slightly to look into her face, anticipating anger and accusation but instead finding relief and appreciation and trust.

'Doctor,' she said, her voice slightly hoarse and dry. The Doctor hoped that it wasn't from screaming in pain. She smiled shakily at him. 'You took your time,' she teased him half-heartedly.

His eyes dropped as he began to fully comprehend the horrific extent of the situation he'd sent her into. 'I took far too long,' he said. His eyes slid shut as tears threatened to spill over. He couldn't let her see him break down, not like this. Not now. He had to stay strong for her. 'He hurt you.' He opened his eyes and studied her face, noticing for the first time the dried blood at her mouth where her lip had split. He watched her battle over whether or not she should lie to him before she eventually nodded and laid her head down on his shoulder, bringing her arms around him to prevent him from pulling away.

She shook against him. 'I'm so glad you showed up!' Her voice was light but he could hear the forced smile there, and he knew that she had to be hurting.

He lifted her head so he could see her face, tenderly moving her hair away from her eyes. 'Oh Rose,' he said. He kissed her forehead, pleased when she leaned into his touch. 'I keep leaving you when you need me, don't I?'

She shook her head. 'No,' she insisted. 'That's not true. How could you know?'

'I should have known,' he replied. 'First you end up stuck on an alien planet not knowing if you'll ever be able to get back and now this. If anything this is even worse. I shouldn't have sent you off on your own. I should have _known_ Maurice was corrupt.'

'He didn't used to be,' Rose said quietly. 'It was the regime that changed him. He was a victim once too.'

The Doctor knew then that he didn't deserve her. How could she stand it? She'd just been caught in the middle of a revolution, then dragged through a trapdoor and tortured by a man he had thought she could trust. How could she stay with him and still find sympathy and compassion for the man that had hurt her so much? The Doctor often made jokes about the simplicity of Rose's human mind, but it was at times like this that she eluded him completely. Her ability for forgiveness was astonishing. If he was in her position, he didn't think that he'd be able to trust himself again. And yet she did. And then she pressed her lips against his to prove her point, her arms still around his back although her grip had loosened now; her muscles were tired after being stretched for so long by chains that had obviously been designed for someone taller than her.

He kissed her back for a few moments, tasting the blood from her split lip and the flavour that was just her and something else as well… No, not something else, _someone_ else. He felt sick at the thought of Maurice touching her, _using_ her and he pulled away from her gently, a renewed hatred for the unconscious man bubbling up inside him. 'Come on,' he said, forcing himself to sound kind, because he wasn't angry at her and he didn't want her to get the impression that he was. 'I need to get you out of here.'

She nodded and then shivered as he drew away, moving back over to Maurice. He realised belatedly that her jacket had gone as well as her coat, and he swore to himself that if she got pneumonia because of this he would make a point of coming back here, stripping Maurice naked and locking him out in the cold for a day or two so he could get a taste of his own medicine. He took off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, kissing her cheek as pulled the material snugly around her, knowing that the gesture would make her smile. He then went and pulled Maurice up, hauling him over to the chains.

Rose sat curled up on the floor in the Doctor's coat and watched as he strung Maurice up by the chains that had held her only a few minutes before, making sure that the cuffs were tight enough to dig uncomfortably into his skin. His head fell forward as he still failed to wake up from his fist-induced sleep. 'You just gonna leave him there?' she asked quietly.

The Doctor nodded. 'Yes.' The expression on his face made it clear that this was a non-negotiable option. His eyes flicked over to Ganjud's lifeless body in the corner of the room. 'We'll have to leave him too, for now.' His eyes held a question as he looked back at Rose. _Tell me what happened?_

She nodded and allowed him to help her up when he reached her once more. He pulled her into his side and held her against him for a long moment, his lips in her hair as they both tried to get their emotions under control. Then he took her hand, making sure he didn't catch the places on her wrist that had been rubbed raw by the cuffs, and led her out of the room. He pulled the door shut behind them and locked it with the sonic screwdriver, not caring if Maurice died before he managed to get out of there.

The Doctor was in no mood for finesse. He was going to get this nightmare situation cleared up as quickly as possible and then he was going to take Rose away and not leave her side for a good few days. And, he thought, if that meant they had to share a bed again, then so be it. Something good might as well come out of this disaster of an adventure. He held her hand securely as they walked in silence back along the corridor for the trapdoor. He knew one thing for certain: until this situation was sorted, he wasn't going to be letting Rose out of his sight. He had already hurt her enough for one lifetime.

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Rose clutched the Doctor's hand tightly as they re-entered the bar, standing by his side as he kicked the trapdoor shut. She wanted to cry with the relief that was currently washing through her, but any joy she felt had been tampered down by the pain coursing through her body at intermittent intervals. She was more than aware that she would be having nightmares for months after this, the memories of being hurt and taunted by a man she had thought was their friend coupled with the vision of Ganjud's chest bursting open in front of her haunting her even as she stood safe and sound back in the real world, the Doctor's hand moving to her back to guide her over to the table where Damien and Heather were sat. She did her best to forget that Maurice was still strung up and unconscious in the cell beneath the ground.

The Doctor ignored the other two people sitting at the table as he pulled out a chair for Rose, coaxing her to sit down and not failing to miss the grimace she gave as pain shot out from the large bruise that was forming on her stomach. Damien and Heather were staring with questions in their eyes, but the Doctor still didn't speak. Instead, he walked over to the bar and picked up the first aid kit before coming to pull out a chair and sit down next to Rose. She mused that they'd seen a bit too much of that first aid kit since arriving here.

'What…' Damien started.

The Doctor glanced at him but ignored the question, taking the bottle of disinfectant from the box in front of him and turning Rose so that he could carefully dab it onto the raw skin on her collarbones. She sucked in a breath but told herself it was good pain; the kind of pain that would soon recede and help her to feel better.

Unable to help herself any longer, Rose reached out and rested one hand on Heather's arm, tears clear in her eyes as she thought of the man lying dead in the same room as his murderer. 'I'm sorry,' she told the woman sitting opposite her, her voice choked as her breath caught on a lump in her throat. She was aware of the Doctor looking at her with worry as she spoke. 'He just… Maurice… He…' She couldn't say it.

'What?' Heather frowned, leaning towards Rose, her eyes wide and nervous. 'What happened?' It was clear from the panic in her voice that she had been worrying about what was happening since Ganjud had locked her upstairs. It must have looked especially bad when they arrived back in the room without her fiancé.

'Maurice shot Ganjud,' Rose blurted. 'It looked like he was going to disobey him, and so he shot him.'

'He's… dead.' It was a statement, not a question. There was silence in the room.

Rose nodded, feeling self-conscious as all eyes locked on her. 'Yeah… Yes,' she said. 'I couldn't stop him. I'm sorry! There was all this blood and then he just sort of… slumped. And then he died,' she finished with a whisper.

Damien shifted in his chair, his arm automatically going around Heather's shoulders and drawing her to him as the woman began to convulse with silent sobs. Tears spilt over his own eyes to run unchecked down his face. He fixed the Doctor with a piercing stare. 'How many more people are going to die because of this?' he asked, the menace in his voice contrasting harshly with the sorrow on his face. 'How many?'

The Doctor's head dropped, his hands falling away from where they had been wiping the blood from Rose's neck. He stared at the table and she could feel the guilt and regret radiating off him as she reached out and grasped one of his hands in both of hers. She knew that she would spend hours trying to convince him that it wasn't his fault, but she also knew that no matter what she said she'd never fully succeed. 'I don't know,' he whispered, his other hand sliding to rest on Rose's knee, squeezing it lightly in appreciation. 'I don't know.'

He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. His message was clear although he didn't say anything. _We need to get out of here._ There was nothing they could do to make this situation better. Circumstance had gotten too out of control to be reigned in, and the slump of the Doctor's shoulders told Rose that he had resigned himself to standing back and letting history run its course. The revolution was too far gone to pull it back now.

'So people are dead and now you're just going to sit there?' Damien was angry now. There would be time for him to grieve for Airlia later when all of this was said and done, but right now there were issues to be sorted out. And right at the top of that list of issues was the blame game.

'What else am I supposed to do?' The Doctor's voice was sad, and Rose was scared at the lack of life she saw in his eyes. He was clutching her hand and her leg tightly as though he might fall apart if he let her go or if anything else happened to her. She shifted her chair closer to his, her leg brushing against his under the table. 'I can't turn back time. I can't bring them back to life. All I can do is apologise. I could get down on one knee and do it that way, if you like.'

The other man chuffed in disbelief and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. Heather lifted her head from Damien's shoulder and looked at Rose, her eyes still filled with tears. 'Did he die quickly?' she asked, clearly resigned to the fact that her fiancé was dead and never coming back again. 'He didn't suffer?'

Rose only had to hesitate for a moment before shaking her head and replying, 'No. It was quick. Instantaneous, almost.' She swallowed, deciding not to mention that Ganjud had probably suffered for months if not years at the hands of the regime, forced to lend them his support and his premises for their operations under pain of torture and death. It was obvious that he hadn't told Heather because of the question she asked next.

'Was he… Was he involved in that nasty government?' she asked, her breathing suddenly erratic. She had to be terrified of the answer.

She bit her lip and shook her head. 'No,' she said quietly, knowing that the Doctor would be able to see the lie in her eyes. 'Maurice was, though.'

'Is he dead?' That was Damien.

The Doctor drew a deep breath. 'As good as,' he replied.

'Good,' Heather said. She seemed to shrink in size as she leaned back in the seat, fresh tears springing up to trickle from her eyes. Her gaze lost its focus. 'I'm never going to see him again,' she whispered.

Nobody said anything for a long moment, knowing that no words would ever take away the pain of losing the person you loved more than anything. There were things that could have been said in response to Heather's comment; no, you won't see him again but in time you'll learn to live with it and move on, you'll find somebody else to love and some days you won't even think about him. But that was in the future, and empty promises weren't going to help now. Everything was different now. Things had changed.

'I want to get Airlia,' Damien said eventually. Everyone looked up at him as he broke the silence. 'I want to get her out of that room. She doesn't deserve to be left there.'

Rose frowned, realising that she didn't actually know what had happened when Damien and the Doctor had gone to rescue the president's daughter. Although, from her obvious absence and the things that Damien had said, it was obvious that they had been too late. She was dead. Another innocent.

'Okay,' the Doctor said, his voice gravelly. 'We'll go and fetch her. And then we're getting out of here, Rose and I. We'll see this through and then we're leaving.'

'You're going to abandon the mess you made,' Damien retorted.

'Yep.' The Doctor nodded. 'It doesn't seem like anything I do here is doing any good, so surely it would be better if I went? Besides, if the revolution works out there'll be a new government soon. Everything will right itself without me having to do anything.'

The other man shook in his seat. 'You killed the woman I love and now you're running away?'

There was a pause before he answered. 'It looks that way, doesn't it? But let me tell you this; everyone gets to be selfish sometimes. And this is my time. So let's go and get Airlia's body out of that stinking hell hole and then we can all get the hell away from this place. All of us.'

Nobody moved for a long minute.

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Approximately forty five minutes later, at Hansley Bridge. It was deserted. Everything was still now as the sun dropped down behind the buildings and night began to fall once again. It seemed as though it was always dark or grey on Eustance. Cheering could be heard from over towards the government district; apparently something had gone well. No more gunshots could be heard. It was almost serene, almost beautiful. It would have been a triumph if it wasn't for the loss of so much life and vitality, if two people's lives hadn't been turned upside down because of the unfortunate death of loved ones.

Damien stalked ahead as they approached the door that led the way inside the headquarters of the Liberal Rights Alliance. Heather walked behind him. Rose and the Doctor walked behind them both more slowly, both tired now, both wanting this day to end and die its death just like so many people had in the past few hours.

They went inside the bridge, making short work of the doors and locks and walking down the corridor to the room where Airlia had died. Nobody was around; the only sound was their footfalls and breathing and the sounds of some muffled cheering from the celebration going on just under a mile away. The happiness seemed wrong somehow when there was such a sombre atmosphere in this section of Valtallahan.

They reached the room in silence, all of them walking inside and then stopping dead. The blood on the floor and the walls told a horrific story that they were all glad they didn't know the details to. Scraps of fabric and the lingering stench of burning flesh added to the god-awful tale. It seemed cut and dry. Someone had been hurt, and then they had died tragically.

But these stories always have a twist in them; just when you think the end might be near and closure is within reach, something happens. Something is screwed up and plans are ruined. They had expected to come in here and find Airlia's dead body, laid out on the floor ready for Damien to take into his arms so he could carry her to the rose garden and bury her there under the bench where they first met.

But someone or something- circumstance perhaps, or sheer bad luck or the God of Irony- didn't want him to find closure; they wanted to torture the broken man some more. The four people stood just inside the room expecting to find one man's dead lover. Instead they found nothing. The room was empty. Airlia was gone.

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**A/N:** Shock horror!! Haha… Review and I'll give you a Mars Bar. Next update will be Monday, provided the website doesn't break down again! Jen x


	16. Fall Apart, Break Down

**A/N:** Thank you for all the lovely reviews and comments! Only two chapters to go after this one… I think I'm gonna be pretty sad when this ends :( Oh well, enjoy the chapter! xx

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'Where is she?'

Nobody answered Damien as he paced the small empty room, stalking back and forth like a tiger in a cage. They stood near the doorway and watched him, nobody knowing what they could say to make it better. The man swung back round to face them.

'Where has she gone? Where's Airlia?!'

The Doctor shook his head. 'I don't know.'

'She could be alive!'

He stepped forwards. 'No. She couldn't be. She was as good as dead when we left her. I'm sorry Damien, but you know it's true.'

Damien fixed the Doctor with a wild-eyed look, holding his hands out as if inviting judgement and contradiction. 'Then where is she? Where is her body?'

'Oscar probably came and moved her away from here,' he replied, doing his best to keep the confusion out of his voice. He didn't think that Oscar would move Airlia's body without making at least a vague attempt at clearing up some of the blood, but then he was positive that Airlia would be dead. She wouldn't have had the strength to save herself and escape Hansley Bridge, and there were no blood trails or giveaway tracks to suggest that she'd been outside. 'Someone must have moved her,' he said firmly, more sure of himself now.

'To where?' the panicked man demanded, clutching his head in his hands and slumping back to lean against one of the walls. 'Why would they take her?' He sucked in a breath that turned into a sob and his shoulders slackened.

The Doctor sighed. 'To protect themselves,' he said. He moved backwards slightly as he felt Rose reach out to slide her hand into his and move to press herself into his side. He restrained himself from turning and folding her into his arms; he didn't think that this was the best time to flaunt the fact that he still had the person who meant the most to him, not when Damien and Heather had both just lost the people they had loved.

'She's alive,' Damien murmured. 'She must be alive.'

'No,' the Doctor repeated. 'She _can't_ be, Damien. She's _dead_.' He instantly regretted that his words came out harsher than he had intended, but he had to get the message across. Airlia was _dead_, and that was a non-negotiable fact.

The other man turned away, his hands covering his face and his torso shaking as silent sobs coursed through him. 'But…' he stuttered. 'She can't… She's _mine_.' He was starting to break apart now, the nightmare of the day crushing down on him and destroying him from the inside out. 'She can't be dead,' he whispered.

Heather slipped past the Doctor and walked over to Damien putting her hand on his shoulder to turn him around to face her. There were tears on her face too; no doubt she was thinking about her fiancé's dead body in a cold room beneath his bar. She was probably scared she would return to find him gone as well. She stretched up and bought her head close to Damien's, whispering something in his ear that made him relax and his head dropped. He nodded and then they turned together to walk back towards the door.

'We'll be outside,' Damien said.

The Doctor nodded as the two broken people shuffled out the door and disappeared from view. He turned to Rose. 'Did you hear what she said to him?'

She shook her head. 'No.' She shifted round to stand in front of him, looking up at him with eyes big and wide. 'Can…' She hesitated.

'Rose?' He smiled at her gently, leaning down slightly so she didn't have to stare up at him. 'What is it?'

She sniffed and shook her head, before smiling at him and looking away embarrassed. 'I know…' she started. 'I know it's not really appropriate right now, but could I have a hug?'

He grinned despite the seriousness of the current situation, immediately reaching out and wrapping his arms around her. He pulled her tightly against him, squeezing her slightly before simply holding her against his body so that he didn't put pressure on any of her bruises. She bought her arms up around his waist and hugged him hard, burying her face in his chest. The Doctor was glad that she was still happy to be intimate with him like this; the fact that she was actually requesting a hug off him suggested that she was going to be just fine once this whole hellish incident was over. Acting on impulse, he lifted her head with one hand and bent down to press a kiss into her lips, smiling against her as she gasped in shock before melting into him. He pulled away gently, wanting more than anything to lose himself in her but knowing that he couldn't right now, taking a moment to study her and decide that he loved the look of her wearing his coat. He made a mental note to get her to wear it more often. Some sordid and inappropriate part of his brain suggested to him that perhaps he could ask her to wear the coat with nothing underneath… but that was definitely a thought for another day.

Rose stepped back out of his arms and studied the room around them, her eyes locking on the blood that stained the floor and a good proportion of the walls as well. 'She must be dead,' she said quietly, her voice strained. 'Doctor, what did they do to her?'

He shook his head and moved to stand by her once more. 'I don't know,' he said, although he could have a pretty good guess as to what Oscar and Hugo had done to Airlia based on the wounds he'd seen on her body. 'But there's no way she could have survived.'

'Are you sure?' she asked, her gaze flitting around the room. 'She might've…'

'No, Rose,' he told her firmly. 'She's dead. Look.' He pointed towards the door, watching her until he was sure she was looking at where he was showing her. 'Look at the floor,' he said.

She shuffled over to the door, and the Doctor could see a bit of colour returning to her cheeks. He knew he had to act as normally as possible so that there was minimal chance of Rose faltering and collapsing on him before all of the trouble was dealt with. Giving her things to work out on her own always bought out the best in her, he knew.

'There's no blood by the door,' she said.

He nodded. 'That's right.'

She frowned. 'And if she was alive… She would have had to drag herself out, right?'

'Right.' His chest tightened at the sad tone of Rose's voice, and he knew that she was imagining a woman struggling, fighting to save her life and pull herself to safety… Only she didn't quite make it. His eyes slipped shut momentarily as he battled with a renewed onslaught of emotion.

'There'd be tracks going out of the door,' Rose said. 'She would have had to pull herself out and down the corridor… There'd be blood there.' Her voice dropped. 'But the blood doesn't go over there. Most of it's on the other side of the room.'

'And that's how I know she's dead,' the Doctor said. 'Someone must have carried her out after she died and the bleeding had stopped.'

They stood in silence for a moment, not staring at anything in particular as they stood in the room painted with blood. The Doctor cursed the fact that the situation had only gotten worse instead of better by coming here, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it now. He couldn't rewrite history when he was the one who helped create it. His ribs protested as he remembered Damien's rage at discovering that the timing of the revolution had been his fault. He winced.

He was just about to tell Rose that they should leave and find Damien and Heather to make sure they were safe before they disappeared off back to Earth, when Oscar ran into the room, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

'You're still here!' Oscar said, stopping just inside the doorway and staring at the Doctor with a shocked expression. There were multiple layers of blood on his clothes and he looked scared and weary.

'Sort of,' the Doctor replied. 'What's happening?'

Oscar looked around furtively, moving further into the room as Rose stepped back to stand at the Doctor's side, her hand slipping instinctively into his. 'We won,' he said, but the tone of his voice was dead. 'The government has fallen. The cabinet and most of their advisors are either dead or dying. There are parties in the streets.' His stature slumped. 'You should go,' he said. 'Go and join in the celebrations. The people are free because of you.'

His eyes slipped shut and the Doctor frowned. 'You don't sound too excited that you won,' he said curiously.

Oscar smiled tiredly. 'Oh, believe me, I am,' he told him. 'This is what I always wanted.' His expression dropped. 'But I have to leave now.'

'Why?'

'The guards are hunting me. I'm top of their most wanted list. They know that I led the Alliance.' He shook his head. 'All of the leaders are fleeing.'

Something clicked inside the Doctor's head. He knew enough about the situation on Eustance to understand that the Liberal Rights Alliance had been very secretive, that no one had known the identities of the leaders or its members. And now he knew that Ganjud must have been listening outside his and Rose's room last night. He must have heard what was said about the plans for the revolution and then repeated them to Maurice, who would have informed the government and their guards. Oscar was wrong; nobody had won this fight. Everyone had fallen, and it was all his fault. 'Where will you go?' he asked futilely, knowing full well that Oscar would probably be stopped by the remaining guards before he even made it outside Valtallahan. It would be too soon for a new military regime to have installed itself and taken over. Everything had happened too fast.

Oscar shrugged. 'Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you.'

The Doctor nodded. 'Tell me one thing though,' he requested. 'Where is Airlia's body?'

The other man shrugged again. 'No idea, mate,' he said. 'I thought that you must have moved her.'

He shook his head. 'No.'

'Then I don't know.' He laughed sardonically. 'Maybe her daddy came and picked her up.'

The frown in the Doctor's forehead deepened. 'What?'

Oscar sighed. 'Did you not hear? The president disappeared once the Alliance started to gain some ground. Nobody knows where he is. He's dead, or he's on the run.'

'Just like you,' the Doctor said pointedly. 'You're not so different from him,' he continued, all the anger of the day bubbling up inside him.

'And how did you figure that one out?'

'You're both murderers,' he replied bluntly before taking a step back and sucking in a calming breath.

Oscar's face fell before he nodded and turned to leave. 'Thanks for the help,' he said quietly, pausing in the door frame. 'But you should know,' he continued. 'That you're a murderer too.'

The Doctor nodded. 'I know that,' he said, feeling Rose stiffen at his side. He knew that she would try and protest his innocence later, and he would probably let himself be comforted by her words, but for now he needed the guilt to keep him going. 'Have a nice life.'

The man tilted his head in recognition and then disappeared from sight, heading down the corridor in the direction of the outskirts of Valtallahan.

Rose stepped around to face the Doctor, her hand slipping from his as she moved. He instantly felt the loss of her warm skin against his. 'You're not a murderer,' she said defiantly.

'Rose,' he whispered, his anger draining away to be replaced by sorrow instead. 'Please, let's have this conversation later okay? We can't do this now.' He swallowed and shut his eyes, tears stinging his eyelids as the weight of the universe came crashing down around him. In a situation that he should have been able to fix, everyone had suffered and he was having trouble coming to terms with the thought of that. A rogue tear slipped out from the corner of his eye. He shuddered as he felt Rose's thumb connect with his cheekbone to wipe the droplet of water away, her palm cupping his cheek for a few moments until he opened his eyes to look at her.

'It will be all right,' she told him, her face set in determination and her usual strength and understanding evident in her voice. 'Everything will be okay, yeah?' She smiled at him and the expression was reflected in her eyes. It made the Doctor feel better. They would get through this. They always got through. But right now, in this moment, he couldn't stop the tears from falling.

He stumbled forwards into Rose's arms, wrapping himself around her and burying his face in her shoulder so she couldn't see him crumble. 'So many people are dead,' he choked out. 'Because of something I wanted, because of what I told them to do! I made it happen too fast.' His voice dropped. 'I always make things happen too fast.'

He felt Rose frown against him as she rested her head on his and tightened her arms around him. 'What do you mean?' she asked.

'I mean I always keep on moving,' he said self-deprecatingly. 'I do what has to be done regardless of the consequences and then I move on. I keep on running no matter what. Maybe that's wrong. Maybe I should slow down.'

'I can't see you slowing down,' Rose told him, rubbing his back and stroking his hair. He shivered beneath her touch. 'Don't worry Doctor,' she whispered. 'Everything will sort itself out, you'll see. You did nothing wrong.'

It occurred to him that he should be the one comforting her; after all, she was so much younger than he was, so much more innocent. She was too precious to be wasting herself on him. The strength of her faith in him awed him. He was torn between thinking he was a bad man for leading her on so much, and thinking that maybe he wasn't a complete dead loss because Rose still stayed with him no matter what he did. It steeled his resolve to keep her with him for as long as was possible. The affects of one little human girl on the last Time Lord in the universe were staggering.

He stiffened and groaned in pain as Rose shifted and accidentally caught one of the places where Damien had hit him earlier. She pulled away instantly, concern flooding her face. 'What is it?' she demanded, worry evident in her voice. 'Doctor, what's wrong? Does something hurt?'

He nodded, knowing that it would be stupid to lie to her. Not only would she be able to tell that he was lying, but she would be hurt if she found out he'd been injured and he hadn't thought to tell her about it. 'Damien was a bit angry that Airlia was killed,' he said hoarsely, taking a shaky breath and shutting his eyes in an effort to block out the pain that shot through his torso. 'He used me as a stress reliever.'

'Doctor,' Rose said, but he found that he couldn't read her tone. Did she mean "Doctor" in a sympathetic, upset kind of way? Or did she mean "Doctor", I don't blame him for beating you up because it was all your fault? He suspected that it was the first one, but he thought it should be the second option. Because it was his fault. There were no other options.

'He hit you!' Rose continued, anger flashing in her eyes.

He nodded. 'Yes. Hugo did as well, actually. I'm a bit angry about that one, but I completely understand why Damien lost it.' He felt calmer now, less exposed now that he had managed to stop himself crying uncontrollably.

Rose mumbled something he couldn't quite make out, her eyes fixed on his chest. He watched her face carefully, his hands flexing at his sides as he ached to reach out to her. She surprised him then, placing her hands on his hips and leaning down to press a kiss into the centre of his chest. He felt the heat of her lips through his jacket and shirt, their softness burning through to take the edge off the pain in his ribs. She straightened and looked him in the eye. 'When we get back to the TARDIS I'll kiss it better for you properly,' she said, a cheeky glint in her expression. 'Bit awkward through all these clothes.'

He felt an involuntary smile spreading across his face at her words and found himself very much looking forward to getting back to the TARDIS so that she could make good on her promise. And, he thought, he would be more than happy to kiss her better as well. As much as she needed for as long as she wanted. That sounded good. He felt that moment couldn't come fast enough. 'Rose Tyler,' he started, before pausing as something occurred to him. He'd forgotten all about Damien and Heather, and he wondered where they were. 'Come on,' he said, his smile dropping as he held his hand out to Rose. 'We need to go and find our grieving lovers, make sure they're okay. Make sure that they haven't killed each other, or tried to start a revolution of their own.' He grinned again as they walked towards the door. 'And then we can go home… and kiss it all better.'

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They found Damien and Heather sitting on a bench in the rose garden, both of them sitting in reflective silence as they stared off at some point in the distance. Both of them looked broken.

The Doctor led Rose to a bench perpendicular to the one they were sitting on, discreetly slipping his arm around her waist as they sat down. 'We need to talk,' he said to the people on the other bench.

Damien's head dropped. 'What else can there be to say?' he asked. It was clear that he was deep in the grasp of grief, and probably would be for some time. Heather seemed to be somewhat more together, and it made the Doctor wonder how she was managing to keep herself together. Perhaps she was simply more stoical about death. Or maybe…

His thought trailed off as he realised he had to reply to Damien's question. 'You have to decide what you're going to do next.'

There was silence after that. A light breeze blew as the sun lowered in the sky and one hundred thousand revolutionisers partied in the streets less than a mile away. Their celebrations seemed a world away from the situation in the rose garden. The Doctor wondered momentarily if he and Rose should just leave now and leave Eustance and its people to sort out their own problems. But he knew that he had an obligation to at least the two people sitting across from him now. He was responsible for their misery, but with a bit of luck he might just be able to help them on the way to healing. He might be able to fix a small section of this colossal disaster, right just one of so many wrongs.

'I think you should leave Eustance,' the Doctor continued when an answer failed to materialise.

Damien snorted. 'I think that much was a given,' he said.

'And I think you should go soon. Tonight, if possible.'

'But the curfew,' Heather protested.

'I don't think that will be much trouble any more,' the Doctor said. 'Not now the regime has been overthrown. But you need to leave fast; it won't be long until the other provinces force a lockdown on Valtallahan until all the violence has been dispelled.'

He let them both mull that over for a few moments as Rose took his hand from her waist and held it, interlocking her fingers with his. He gave her hand a small squeeze and she smiled back at him, clearly sensing that this adventure was nearly at an end. Once they got Damien and Heather off safely, and they had found the gateway back through to Earth… It would all be over. And then they could deal with the mess and the scars and the anguish they had picked up over the past couple of days… Hopefully together. And hopefully it would involve a bed. And lots of sleep. And then maybe… Once again the Doctor resolved to have a good think about his feelings and the developments in his relationship with Rose. He hoped that her feelings were starting to lean in the same direction as his were, that she was also happy with the way things were progressing between them. The whole kissing thing, for instance. That was something he definitely liked.

Heather coughed. 'How can we escape though? How can we get away?'

The Doctor turned to Damien. 'Do you still have the tickets you were going to use to take Airlia away?'

The man nodded. 'Yes.'

'Then I suggest you use those. It will be less suspicious than if you bought new tickets or if you tried to stowaway somehow.'

'No.' Damien shook his head, his expression defiant. 'We're not using them.'

Rose frowned. 'Why not?'

Damien's head fell forwards and tears dripped from his eyes, falling in a straight line down to the floor. 'Airlia should be with me,' he said. 'I can't go through with those plans without her there.'

'We have to leave,' Heather said to him. 'We need to get out of here; we don't know what's going to happen. It's not safe to stay here.'

'We'd have to leave quickly,' he said, his voice sad and thick from too much grief. 'I'm guessing you don't have your passport on you?'

'Actually, I do,' he was told as Heather reached into a pocket and pulled out a small booklet that bore an official inscription. 'Ganjud and I were getting ready to flee when…' She looked at Rose and her face fell at the memories of her dead fiancé. 'When you showed up,' she finished.

'We're not using the tickets,' Damien said stubbornly.

'Why were you leaving?' the Doctor asked Heather. He thought that Ganjud would have been at Maurice's mercy when it came to where he could and couldn't go, and he highly doubted that he would have let the man leave when the situation was so tense and volatile.

Heather swallowed, her gaze swinging down to the ground and tears welling up in her eyes. Her voice broke when she spoke again. 'I'm pregnant,' she said quietly.

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**A/N:** Woo, the last major cliff-hanger of the story! Next update will be Friday ;D Jen x


	17. Enough For Two

**A/N:** First of all, a huge thanks to everyone for being so patient with me during the huge laptop-breaking nightmare! It had to be sent away to the computer-fixing people and get a new keyboard, so I'm currently feeling quite thankful for 12 month warranties… Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter up- I hope it's worth the wait :D Enjoy the penultimate chapter! xx

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There was relative silence for a while as the four people sat on a bench in the rose garden of the park of Valtallahan, Heather's revelation slowly sinking in. It wasn't a situation that could just be ignored; there was no way that they could allow such a new and innocent life to be born into such an unforgiving and hostile environment, even with the revolution that had just taken place.

'Surely that makes things somewhat clearer,' the Doctor suggested after a few moments.

Damien raised his head from where it had been hanging down to the ground and looked at him as though he was as thick as mud. 'Exactly _how_ does it make things clearer?'

The Doctor frowned, before leaning forward with an earnest expression on his face. 'Damien, it's simple. You need to get yourself and Heather away from here so that she can raise the baby in a safe place, anywhere that isn't here.'

The other man stood up and moved a few steps away, turning his back and running his hands through his hair distractedly. 'But don't you see that makes it worse?!' he exclaimed, whirling back round with hurt and anger and confusion in his eyes. 'How can I take another woman away with me when I was supposed to be going with Airlia? And now there's a baby…' He trailed off and stared at Heather. 'Are you sure you're pregnant?'

The woman looked indignant. 'Why would I lie? Ganjud and I were leaving Eustance so we could raise our child in a safe place!' Her face softened and she stood, walking over to stand next to Damien. She touched his shoulder hesitantly. 'I'm not expecting anything from you,' she told him quietly. 'I'm not asking you to forget the love of your life. I… I just want to save my baby.'

Damien nodded and his shoulders slumped. 'I know,' he whispered. 'But what do I do about Airlia?'

He sounded so lost, so alone, and the Doctor felt his hearts ache for this man he hardly knew. He stood up and went to the man, guiding him across to the opposite side of the rose garden with a hand on his arm. He cast a glance back at Rose to see her already taking the hint and pulling Heather down to sit next to her on the bench. He watched her until she started to speak and then turned back to Damien, drawing them both to a stop next to a large dying plant. 'You should go,' the Doctor said. 'Take her with you.'

'But Airlia,' Damien protested. 'I don't know where she is!'

'She's dead, Damien,' the Doctor stressed, gripping the man's sleeve when it looked like he might try to bolt away. 'I know it's hard and I'm sorry, but you need to get away from here. You can't afford to wait.'

Damien sighed and lifted his head to meet the Doctor's eyes. He suddenly looked very old, and weary, and there were signs of his underlying pragmatic personality shining through at last. 'I know that,' he admitted. 'And I… I want to help her, I really do.' He glanced over at Heather, who was sitting and staring off into space, occasionally nodding or replying to something Rose had said. 'But I…' His face was open and honest and scared as he continued. 'What do I do about Airlia?' he asked again. 'Her body is gone; we don't know if we can find her. I'll always be wondering about her.'

'Yes,' the Doctor agreed. 'You probably will. But you can't spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been. You have to move on.' His expression faltered as he thought of his own life, always moving on without stopping to think about consequence or deal with what had been lost. He told himself he should listen to his own words.

Damien sucked in a ragged breath, a second wave of grief washing over him but this one was different from the last. This was the grief of resignation, of reluctant acceptance, of the knowledge that he would still be able to live a life without the one he loved the most even though that life would be somewhat diminished without her there. 'What do I do without her?' he asked, correctly guessing that the Doctor knew all about having to carry on whilst missing a part of yourself.

'You do what you have to,' the Doctor told him brusquely, doing his best to stay detached and not put himself in Damien's situation. If he lost Rose… He decided that it was best not to think of that. 'You'll find yourself looking for her in every woman you meet, roll over to kiss her when you wake up in the morning, cook enough food for two. But then you'll find yourself slipping, you won't think about her quite as much and it will make you feel guilty.'

A cold breeze blew and the sky dimmed further, the burnished sun slipping behind Hansley Bridge and casting a shadow over the park. Damien faltered as he listened to the Doctor's words, stumbling backwards to lean against a tree, his head resting against the rough bark. 'I'll never stop thinking about her,' he said.

'No, you won't,' the Doctor agreed. 'Not completely. But eventually you'll start to think about her less and less, you'll find you stop comparing every woman you meet to her. And one morning you'll wake up and realise that you're _fine_. And you will be.'

'Then what?' Damien whispered. It was clear that this was an unfathomable situation for him at the moment. He still hadn't been able to fully comprehend that Airlia was dead.

The Doctor sighed, clenching his fists as he fought with the emotion bubbling up inside of him. He knew that his words were true, but he also knew that it was hard to see them in perspective when they were been spoken in the future tense. 'Then…' he continued on. 'Then you'll move on with your life. You'll start to live again, instead of just existing.' And how those words rang true. He recalled the mess he had been before he met Rose, and how she had made him see that life was still worth living. She had picked him up from rock bottom, brushed him off and helped him to carry on. And, if he dared to admit it, life with her was better than it had ever been before. If he lost her now, he wasn't sure he would ever be able to fully get past it. But then, he realised, that was exactly how Damien was feeling about Airlia. He had to convince himself as well as Damien that what he was saying was true.

'Really?'

He nodded slowly. 'Yes. One day you'll be out, you'll be out somewhere in public and you'll see a woman. You'll stare at her, and for a moment you'll think it's Airlia. But then you'll catch yourself and realise that it can't possibly because she's long dead and buried. And you'll walk away, willingly. You'll walk away from her. And you'll know you've finally managed to move on.'

Damien straightened away from the tree. He looked across the garden, his gaze drifting over Heather for a few moments before his expression softened and he turned back to face the Doctor. He nodded curtly. 'Okay,' he said.

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Twenty five minutes later, the Doctor and Rose stood by the side of a bench as they watched Damien and Heather walk away together. If the circumstances had been different, Rose thought that it would almost have been romantic to see them disappear off into the sunset together to start a new life someplace else, somewhere better than here. But this was not an enticing elopement, or even a juicy affair. It was necessity; it was unfortunate where it should be happy, devastating where it should be exciting. They kept their hands to themselves where they should have been joined as though they'd never let go in another lifetime, another setting. There had been far too much death for romance to be a conceivable concept. Everyone had simply lost too much. Everything seemed to be backwards on Eustance. Even her relationship with the Doctor had been turned upside down since arriving here.

The sun had set almost completely now, and on any other night everyone would be scurrying inside before the curfew came into effect and the guards were legally obliged to capture you, arrest you or shoot you. Tonight was different. The sounds of an insanely happy crowd could still be heard from the government district just under a mile away, firecrackers and burning wood being thrown up into the air as Damien and Heather began to fade from view, walking further away before rounding a corner and then disappearing completely.

Rose turned back to face the Doctor, touching his sleeve to get his attention and bring his gaze down to meet hers. He instantly gave her one of his soft smiles, his hand slipping automatically into hers as she looked up at him with a question in her eyes. 'Doctor… What now?' she asked quietly, feeling her muscles protest as she shifted her stance slightly. She decided that she'd quite happily give her right arm for some aspirin right now.

The Doctor obviously noticed the look of pain that crossed over her face, as he led her round to the front of the bench and helped her to sit, one arm looping around her shoulders and pulling her to him before he answered her question. 'Now… We leave,' he said. 'There's nothing more we can do here.'

'So we're just gonna walk away?' She couldn't quite manage to keep the surprise out of her voice at that.

The Doctor nodded. 'Yes. We did what we could, Rose. We helped to liberate the people. We helped to take down the government. What else is left?'

She shrugged. 'Nothing, I guess.' She sighed and dropped her head to his shoulder, smiling slightly as she felt his lips meet her hair and press down gently, his breath washing over her forehead. 'So we're going home then?'

She felt him nod above her. 'Yes.'

'As long as we can find the right door back to Earth!' she poked him in the ribs and giggled before they both groaned as muscles cramped and aching bruises turned into sharp stabbing pains for a few moments.

'Sorry,' they both said at the same time.

They pulled apart then, both turning sideways on the bench so that they could face each other. The Doctor carefully traced just above the raw patches of skin on Rose's collarbones whilst she rubbed at a bit of dried blood on the underside of his chin.

'I think the medical room might have to be the first place we stop at once we get back to the TARDIS,' the Doctor said.

Rose nodded her agreement. 'Yeah definitely. And then maybe the shower… Then the kitchen for some food.'

He smiled at her. 'And then bed.'

She raised her eyebrows and poked her tongue out playfully. 'You trying to suggest something there, Doctor?'

He laughed, a chuckle rumbling out from his chest. He reached out and brushed a strand of her hair back as the wind blew it over her face. He waggled his eyebrows. 'Maybe,' he said. 'I have got somewhat used to sharing with you over the past couple of days.'

'Me too,' she admitted, feeling the slight blush that stained her cheeks at his words. She grinned at him before dropping her gaze to his chest, sensing that the mood was somehow shifting between them.

The Doctor cleared his throat, and Rose could feel his gaze on her. His hands came up to grasp her arms, his thumbs rubbing lightly over the fabric of her- his- coat. He smiled again. 'I like the way you look in that,' he told her, a hint of nervousness coupled with reverence evident in his voice.

'Your coat?' she asked to clarify, bringing her face up to look at him once more. She knew that she had to be blushing even more brightly now, but she hoped that the dim light would help to conceal it a little bit. The fact that his cheeks seemed slightly more flushed than they normally did in the dark also helped her feel a little bit better.

He nodded. 'Yeah. It suits you better than it does me.' He smiled.

'Thanks,' she whispered before raising her voice and leaning into him slightly. 'But you wouldn't be the Doctor without your coat! I'll give it back once we get somewhere a bit warmer. I don't think this planet understands the concept of raising the temperature above freezing.'

'No, it doesn't really, does it?' The Doctor fumbled nervously for a moment before leaning forwards and pressing a kiss to her forehead and sweeping his arms round to her back and enfolding her in a hug. 'It's nearly over now,' he whispered fervently. 'I'm so, so sorry for everything that's happened. But it's going to be okay now. We're going home. It's going to be all right.'

Rose relaxed in his embrace, letting his words wash over her and lift her mood. She rested her head on his chest, enjoying the feel of his body rumbling against her gently as he spoke, his lips brushing over her forehead as his mouth moved against her skin. His voice lulled her and soothed her, his arms rocking her gently, shielding her from the chill in the air as they sat together on a bench in the rose garden in the park of Valtallahan; the trouble was finally over now and they could go home, back to where they came from. Back to where they belonged. She let her eyes slip closed for a moment, enjoying the feel of the Doctor's solid embrace, his body warm and inviting against hers. She took a deep breath, committing this moment to memory before they moved again, this time to start their journey home, the last time they would ever have to walk the streets of Eustance.

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'Hold on a minute.' The Doctor brought them to a stop outside Bitsy's Café, once again feeling the disappointment that the owner of the establishment hadn't actually been called Bitsy.

He let go of Rose's hand and stepped up to the glass of the window. The street behind him was deserted; everyone was either dead, disappearing without a trace, or celebrating a couple of miles away. It seemed to the Doctor that not much had actually changed in that respect, but the people dying and disappearing had swapped places with those who were celebrating since the revolution earlier in the day.

He peered into the interior of the café, finding it dark and empty. He glanced back at Rose. 'Doesn't seem like there's anyone home.' He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and opened the door, stepping inside and striding to the back of the room. There was no trace of Sadie; he guessed that she must have discovered what was happening and taken herself elsewhere. His suspicions were confirmed when he stepped through into the back room and found it a mess, items knocked over and things strewn all over the floor giving the distinct impression that someone had left in a hurry. He wondered if Sadie was being hunted like her son was.

Out of interest and curiosity more than anything, he flipped through the settings of the sonic screwdriver before holding it against the wall that joined this building onto the derelict baker's shop next door. The little device informed him that the room he was standing in did in fact exist, unlike its counterpart next door. He wondered what it was that contained the strange occurrences to that single shop. He guessed that it may have indirectly had something to do with the fact that it was empty and not in use.

'Doctor?' Rose came up behind him and touched the small of his back gently, her hand lingering longer than was necessary as he turned back round to face her.

'We can go now,' he told her, once more taking her hand in his. He realised that it was second nature to him now; his hand felt empty without hers clasped tightly within it. 'Sadie isn't here anymore. We can only hope that she's safe.'

'I liked her,' said Rose. 'She was nice.' She smiled. 'She made nice soup.'

The Doctor laughed softly. 'Yes, she did.'

He turned them and led her back outside, careful not to tug on her hand too hard for fear of aggravating the raw and bleeding places on her wrists where the chains that had held her earlier had been done up too tightly and rubbed through her skin. The Doctor felt sick at the thought of the angry red welts that marked her wrists like cruel and disgusting bracelets. He felt sick at the thought that they might not actually be able to find their way back to Earth after all. He hoped like hell that their theory about one of the hundreds of doors leading back to the carnival in France was correct.

Two minutes later, they were about to find out.

The Doctor held the sonic screwdriver to the door at the back of the baker's shop, the smell of mould and damp heavy in the air until they crossed over the threshold into the room of doors and the gateway to Eustance clicked shut behind them.

He led Rose into the centre of the vast room, where they stood and turned in a slow circle as they surveyed the scene before them. The room seemed to pulse with energy, as though it sensed its purpose, as though it knew that this journey was almost at an end.

'Run this by me one more time,' Rose requested. 'What exactly happens when we leave here?'

'I hide the existence of this place once we get back to the TARDIS. Make sure nobody else ever gets lost here.'

'What if they have already? We can't have been the only people to have gone into the House of Mirrors that day.'

'No.' There was silence for a moment as the Doctor thought that one through. It was a good question. He couldn't guarantee that people hadn't already been lost as a result of the gateway to humankind's conquests opening up when technically it shouldn't even have existed yet. And if people had been lost, there was no guarantee that they would have all ended up in the same place, although it was obvious that the connection between Earth and Eustance had been stronger- or arguably, weaker- than all the others. It had been images of Eustance the Doctor and Rose had seen at the carnival- the blurry crowd and strange happenings symbolising the accidental merging of the two realities, and the Doctor had earlier discovered that Heather played the cello. It made sense that he would see her on Earth before meeting her on Eustance… if that made any kind of sense at all. He thought that it did in some strange way. But there was something else as well… 'I saw him.'

'What?' Rose frowned and stepped round to face the Doctor. 'Saw who? Where?'

He smiled at her questions before his expression sobered and he fixed her with an intense gaze. 'Damien,' he replied. 'When we went on the ghost train, I saw a man. A man with a bag like the one that Damien carried. He was standing in front of the train, staring at something.'

The crease between Rose's eyebrows deepened. 'You didn't say anything about that.'

'I didn't want to worry you at the time,' the Doctor said. 'And it didn't seem particularly relevant until now.'

She seemed to accept this, nodding and moving away to get a closer look at some of the doors that lined the room. The Doctor's coat hung off her, its hem slightly worn as it dragged along the ground due to her shorter stature. 'You didn't answer my question,' she said.

'Which question?'

'How do we know that we're the only ones who got dragged through to another timeline? What if other people have got stuck somewhere? They might not ever be able to find the way back like we have.'

He shook his head. 'I can't give you a definite answer, Rose. Although, it makes sense that this would happen to us, don't you think?'

She flashed him a wry grin over her shoulder as she stood examining a shiny metal door. 'Jeopardy friendly, yeah?'

'Something like that.' He smiled. 'No, I mean because of what we do. We travel through time, through space. Time isn't linear for us like it is for everyone else. All it would have taken for something like this to happen is a slight weakening in the fabric of reality- which isn't uncommon, by the way- and our presence in that area could easily have turned something minor and practically unnoticeable even by the TARDIS into a highly significant event. I imagine our recent trip to the parallel universe probably had an impact on it as well.' He frowned at the memory of that recent adventure.

'So how come stuff like this doesn't happen more often then?' she asked as she slowly made her way to another door. Her movements were slowing now, and it was obvious that she was tired and in pain. 'If it's not uncommon for reality to be weakened, how come we haven't had a disaster like this before?'

The Doctor smiled once again. 'It's a big universe, Rose.'

She nodded, too tired to question his logic. 'I'll give you that one,' she said.

They descended into silence for a little while as they both studied the room, trying to work out which door would get them back to Earth. The Doctor blinked a few times to clear his hazy vision; he was tired as well now, the events of the day having taken their toll on him. He couldn't quite manage to focus properly, all of the doors blending together and not a single one of them standing out.

'Doctor,' Rose called after a few minutes of quiet. He turned from where he had been holding the sonic screwdriver against a random door, willing it to give him a reading of some kind. Nothing had happened no matter how hard he tried. He walked over to where Rose was standing, in front of a large oak door. The wood was old, and the frame had chipped in a couple of places. It had the feel of something ancient, something timeworn and encrusted with history. 'I think it might be this one,' she said when he reached her.

He watched her for a few moments as she ran her hand over the wood of the door before turning her gaze to meet his. There was a kind of hesitant confidence in her eyes, and it gave him hope. 'And what makes you say that?' he asked.

She shrugged. 'It just feels right, I guess. It's old and I can actually name the stuff it's made out of. It seems… original. And it feels like Earth.'

The Doctor reached out and ran his hand over the wood of the door frame, feeling no differently towards this one than he did to any of the others. But then, he supposed, he wasn't human. He didn't have the same instinctive connection to Earth that Rose did. Without the sonic screwdriver to help him, he was lost. But he had his connection to Rose, and his belief in her was giving him confidence. 'Are you sure Rose? Don't think about it, just answer.'

'Yes,' she said, and then frowned and stepped back. 'But what if it's wrong? What if we get stuck somewhere else? Doctor, we can't-'

'Yes, we can,' he replied. He grinned at her. 'It's always good to trust your instincts, Rose. More often than not they turn out to be right.'

'But not all the time,' she challenged.

He sighed. 'No,' he conceded. 'Not all the time.' His gaze softened. 'But what else do we have right now?'

She thought about that for a moment, before nodding and stepping back towards him and the door. 'Okay,' she said. 'Let's get out of here.'

'Excellent!' He held his hand out to her, his smile threatening to burst off his face as she folded her hand around his. He felt the tension radiating off her and his joyous expression dropped a bit. 'Hey,' he said gently, reaching up with his free hand to chuck her under the chin. She shivered as his touch tickled. 'We're doing this together now, Rose. It's not like last time you were here. Whatever happens now, we do it together, okay? I'm here with you.'

She smiled up at him, an almost shy expression crossing her face as she regarded the man in front of her. 'All right,' she said. Her voice dropped to a whisper. 'Let's do it.'

The Doctor reached forward and opened the door, his hand instinctively tightening on Rose's. The door opened into the room, revealing darkness beyond. They took a step forward and paused. Flashing lights were visible at the edges of the blackness, the sound of a crowd and the smell of bonfires and candyfloss drifting through the open door.

The Doctor and Rose turned to each other, sharing a smile and a quick, impulsive kiss on the lips before they both took a deep breath and turned back towards the door, towards the future and the past, everything wrapped up in one, everything happening all at once. They stepped over the threshold and into whatever lay beyond.

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**A/N:** The final chapter will be up on Friday, providing the laptop doesn't die again! Jen x


	18. Scars Fade

**A/N:** Wow. 18 chapters, 155 pages, 80000 words and I'm finally done. This story has indeed been something of an all-consuming beast over the past few months, but it's definitely been fun! And I can't thank all you guys enough for all the support you've given me and this story. I never would have finished it if I hadn't had so much wonderful encouragement! So thanks. And now enjoy the last chapter! (And please read the Author's Note at the bottom :D) Jen xx

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The lights and frenzied energy of the carnival erupted in front of them the second they stepped through the door. The sky was pitch black now, and millions of stars were twinkling in the sky. The funfair had been abandoned as the parade that had been preparing earlier was finally taking place. People were dancing around the burning effigy on the bonfire. Soulful blues clashed with the sound of steel drums as a myriad of shows went on all at once.

The Doctor and Rose stood silently for a minute, just watching the scene before them. It was all so normal, so familiar. Hardly anything had changed since they left; relatively speaking, it seemed as though they had only been gone for a couple of hours at the most. They both turned around at the same time, finding the House of Mirrors intact behind them, the way that it should have been in the first place. Its entrance had been cordoned off with a sign saying that the attraction was closed for the night. Nobody took any notice as the Doctor walked over to the door and ran his sonic screwdriver over it quickly, before pocketing the device and turning back to find Rose watching him closely. 'It seems normal,' he said. 'But the TARDIS will be able to detect any abnormalities around the area once we get back.'

She nodded. 'Does that mean we can go back to the TARDIS now?' she asked weakly, visibly sagging now that they were back on Earth once more, now that the horrendous ordeal of the past couple of days was finally done and over with. She gladly leant against the Doctor as he raised his arm to wrap around her shoulders and hold her against his side.

'Of course we can,' he said.

She smiled. 'Does this mean that it's all over now? No more revolutions, no more getting ourselves into trouble that shouldn't even have existed?'

'Yep,' he replied as they began to walk across the large field, leaving the source of all their troubles behind. He looked down and winked at Rose. 'Well, for today at least!'

She giggled at that, calming slightly when her body protested at the sudden jarring. 'Good,' she said.

The Doctor felt his hearts beat harder as he felt Rose's pain radiate through to him. He knew that he'd never forgive himself for what had happened to her whilst he had been off failing to save the life of someone who ultimately died because of him. There was a lot for him to feel guilty for over this. 'I'm sorry everything got so messed up, Rose,' he told her as they started the ascent back up the hill to where the TARDIS rested, ready and waiting for them to return. 'All I wanted was for us to have a nice time at the carnival, have a chance to unwind a bit.'

'I know,' she replied, her arm slipping around his waist as his tightened around her shoulders. 'Maybe we could come back tomorrow?'

He shook his head. 'It's the last night tonight.'

Rose was quiet for a moment before she replied. 'Maybe that's a good thing,' she said.

'And why do you say that?'

'It means that no one else will go into the House of Mirrors and exit out into a whole other world,' she told him. 'Will the gateway disappear once they dismantle it?'

He nodded, proud of her rational logic. It seemed that she was more pragmatic than he was in his current incarnation. 'It should do,' he said. 'But I'll make sure, just to be extra certain.'

'Great.'

They fell into companionable silence once again, their breathing becoming somewhat laboured as they came towards the top of the hill. Tiredness and fatigue and unfortunate injuries were making them weary, and making the short walk back to the TARDIS more challenging than normal.

Eventually they came abreast of the top of the hill, pausing for a moment as the Doctor fumbled for his TARDIS key. He fitted it gratefully into the lock, thinking that he hadn't been so appreciative to see his ship in a good long time. He turned the key and the door swung open. He took Rose's hand and led her inside, the door swinging shut behind them. The TARDIS hummed in recognition as they entered, and a peace settled over them both at long last.

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'Does that hurt?'

Rose winced as the Doctor put pressure on the skin above her collarbones. 'A bit, yeah,' she told him.

He nodded, a sad apology in his eyes as he passed a disinfectant wipe over the small wounds in Rose's skin and then healed them carefully with a small dermal regenerator. He touched the previously injured spots gently with his finger. 'Is that all right?'

'Yeah. Thanks.'

He smiled at her. 'You're welcome.'

They had gone straight to the medical room once they were inside the TARDIS, and now Rose was perched on one of the beds in the room whilst the Doctor diligently attended to her injuries, intent on removing all traces of her ordeal on Eustance from her skin. He was adamant that she would not be marred by what had happened to her there.

'Um,' he said, shifting uncomfortably as he came to the last of her injuries. Her wrists and ankles, her split lip and her collarbone, along with other minor scrapes and raw spots had been healed already. 'Can you…'

'What?' she asked, a glint in her eye as she realised what the Doctor was going to ask her.

He scratched his head, telling himself that he could be professional about this; he was a Doctor- he was _the_ Doctor- and he would do what he had to do no matter how many wildly inappropriate thoughts it gave him. 'Can you take your shirt off?' he asked her, feeling his cheeks flush red. 'I need to see your stomach.'

'Sure.' Rose was hoping that he didn't notice the way her heart rate sped up as she began to lift her shirt up over her head, the Doctor moving to help her when her bruised ribs protested and prevented her from being able to raise her arms the whole way.

Together they managed to pull the shirt over her head, and the Doctor dropped it on the floor, concentrating solely on Rose now as he coaxed her to lean back so that he could study the state of her torso. There didn't appear to be any major damage, although a large nasty bruise covered a good proportion of her stomach. He gently rubbed a cream on it that he knew was brilliant at numbing pain and starting the healing process. Then he once again took up the dermal regenerator and held it over a thin scratch that stretched halfway from her hip to her navel. 'Okay,' he said, once he was sure he had healed everything he could. 'That's going to be a bit sore for a while, I'm afraid. But that cream should help, especially if you put some more on when you wake up. Take it easy for a while and everything will be fine.'

'Thank you,' Rose said, reaching out to take the Doctor's hand. She raised it to her lips and kissed his knuckles, waiting to see if he would pull away from her touch now that they were back in the TARDIS and they were away from the dangers of Eustance. She was suddenly very aware that she was dressed only in a bra and a pair of scummy jeans, and she was also aware that the Doctor was doing his very best to keep his gaze away from her chest. He was looking instead at where their hands were joined, and where her lips were pressed against his skin, her mouth moving lightly over his flesh.

'Rose,' he said.

'Mm,' she mumbled, preparing herself for his inevitable kind but distancing comment, the one that put things back as they were before, as though all those kisses they had shared had never even happened.

'Rose, look at me,' he continued.

She lifted her head, trying to keep the tremor out of her movements as she bought their hands away from her lips and held them in her lap instead. She wished she still had her shirt on. She told herself that she wouldn't cry, no matter what the Doctor said or did.

Then his free hand was on her face, brushing strands of hair back behind her ear and then letting his fingers trail down the column of her throat before coming to rest against her shoulder. She shivered. 'Are you cold?' he asked softly.

She shook her head. 'No,' she answered, feeling a gust of warm air swim down from the vents in the ceiling of the medical room.

The Doctor smiled at her and his hand moved down further until it rested over her heart, feeling the life pulsing through her. He moved his head towards hers, his hips bumping against the edge of the bed as he lowered himself down slightly so that he wasn't towering over Rose as she sat staring up at him, nervousness and want warring in her eyes. He bought their joined hands up to his mouth, letting his warm breath wash over her skin and enjoying the resulting shiver she gave.

'Doctor,' she said, and there was a question in her voice.

He kissed the back of her hand before moving his head down further until his lips met hers, damning the fact that he had waited so long to do this. He knew that he should have kissed her months ago. They had a lot of wasted time to make up for. She tensed against him for a moment, her free hand fisting in the bed sheets. He pulled back a few centimetres, catching her eyes with his before moving towards her again and brushing his lips lightly over hers. 'Is this okay?' he asked, hoping that he hadn't read her wrong. He hoped that he hadn't been misinterpreting her gestures and actions simply because he wanted her to want him too. His hearts stopped beating for all the time it took for her to answer him.

'Oh yeah,' she breathed, smiling against his mouth before bringing her hand up to hold his head to hers, her lips moving frantically against his as she pulled him to her.

They kissed for a few minutes, tongues exploring mouths and hands gently exploring each other and learning each other's reactions before the Doctor sensed a slight change in the mood and shifted to lie over Rose. She leant back on the bed and he followed, one hand in her hair as he bought his leg up to slide between hers. A jolt of pain shot through him and he groaned into her mouth, pulling away suddenly and dropping his head to her shoulder as tears of pain unexpectedly sprang to his eyes. 'Ouch,' he said pathetically.

'Doctor?' Rose's hands were on his shoulders, gently coaxing him to sit up. One arm wrapped around his back as she knelt up on the bed, his head hanging down to look at his lap as he pulled in a few deep breaths in an effort to calm himself and the bolts of pain currently shooting through his abdomen.

He sucked in a breath. 'I'm all right, Rose,' he said. 'Just a bit of a bruise. I'll be fine.'

She shook her head, admonishing him. 'No, you're not,' she said. 'Let me fix you up, yeah? Let me help you.'

He lifted his head and regarded her for a moment, seeing the concern in her eyes as she watched him. He saw the trust and affection that she felt for him, and the lust and desire that their kiss had produced still lingered on her skin. He didn't think he'd be able to deny her anything ever again. 'Okay,' he said quietly. 'Thank you.'

'You're welcome.'

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A few hours later, when the Doctor and Rose were sleeping in the same bed, limbs wrapped tightly around each other now that their wounds and bruises had been healed, a crew of workmen began to dissemble the carnival outside.

Not one of them took any notice of the blue police box on the top of the hill as they worked through the early hours of the morning, intent of clearing away any evidence of the celebrations that had taken place here before the sun rose in a few hours time.

A pair of men carefully removed the large mirror from the front of the House of Mirrors. Then more men joined them, helping to take down the sign that advertised the attraction before removing the hinges from the entrance door and pulling the wood free.

None of them were aware that, whilst they worked, a disturbance in time and space and the fabric of reality began to heal and right itself, a mysterious room of doors that was literally in the middle of nowhere sealing itself off from the wider universe once again, disappearing from chance of discovery as though it had never even been there at all.

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'It was all my fault.'

'No, it wasn't.'

'Yes it was.'

'No.'

The Doctor and Rose were sitting in the kitchen, the day after they had finally found their way home from the hell of Eustance and all the problems of that planet. They had spent the night entwined together in bed, waking occasionally to share soft words and kisses and touches, all senses of hurt and pain and stress ebbing away as they lost themselves in each other and allowed sleep to take them once again.

They had risen this morning as though it was any ordinary day, making tea and toast as they stumbled into the kitchen within a few minutes of each other. It seemed that the food had reawakened the Doctor to his feelings of guilt and responsibility in relation to everything that had happened on Eustance. His gaze was dark and self deprecating, and his chest hurt from the thought that so many had died because of his actions, because of what he had encouraged other people to do.

'Doctor, everything would have been the same if we'd been there or not,' Rose insisted, not knowing what she could say to make him feel better, not realising that her presence was already helping to soothe him but not fix him altogether. 'It just happened a bit earlier than it was going to originally, that's all.'

'No, it's not all,' he said, for once cursing Rose's innocence and naïve optimism. How could she not see that what had happened had been a huge mistake on his part? He stood up from where he had been sitting next to her at the kitchen table and moved to lean against the counter, looking down on her. Sometimes he felt like he needed the height advantage over her, just so he could try and convince himself for a few minutes that he was the bigger person. It seldom worked. 'Rose, if it wasn't for me then Airlia would still be alive. So would Ganjud. They both would have been able to escape with the people they loved most, and probably would have lived long and amazing lives together with them. But instead they're dead, and that life is a pleasure none of them will ever know.'

Rose's gaze dropped and she shook her head, not knowing what to say to that.

'And now Damien and Heather are god-knows-where. They might not even be together any more. They might have escaped from Eustance and gone their separate ways. They're both alone because of me.'

'You don't know that!' Rose exclaimed, standing up abruptly and moving to stand in front of the Doctor, refusing to be intimidated when he straightened and drew himself up to his full height with the intent of trying to gain some sort of pathetic leverage over her. 'You don't know that they're alone! They could be fine, they could be happy! Don't blame yourself for things when you don't even know if they're true.'

His stance softened for a moment and he allowed himself to be pulled into Rose's embrace, loosely wrapping his arms around her back as she pressed herself against him. He found himself drawing warmth and comfort from her touch even though he was doing his very best to hate himself right now. 'You were hurt,' he whispered.

'What?' she mumbled against his chest. 'Doctor, that doesn't matter. It's all right now. None of that was your fault.'

'Yes, it was,' he said. 'It was my idea to go to the carnival and therefore it was my fault we ended up on Eustance. That makes everything that happened between arriving there and getting back to the TARDIS my fault. Don't try and pretend otherwise.' He cringed inwardly as his words came out harsher than he had intended. He felt Rose stiffen against him.

She sighed. 'Fine,' she said. 'You can blame yourself if you want; I can't stop you. But just know that I don't blame you, okay? You can feel guilty and sorry for yourself all you like but it's not going to change anything. The situation on that planet isn't magically going to get better just because you feel bad about it, Doctor. And it doesn't matter how much you talk about it because I'm never going to blame you for what happened. The only thing I'm mad at you about is leaving me with Sadie while you went off to the Liberal Rights Alliance meeting. That woman could talk for the universe!' She pulled back and looked up into his face, seeing an acceptance there as her words sunk in. 'Please don't beat yourself up over this, Doctor,' she pleaded with him. 'It's no fun when you're in a funk.'

He smiled softly at her, nodding. 'Okay,' he said, leaning in to steal one of her kisses that he was fast becoming addicted to. He knew he would eventually get over the guilt of so many dead because of him; he had to, otherwise he'd never be able to carry on living. And Rose would help him, he knew, not that she would realise the huge extent of the effect she had on him. He kissed her again, deciding that he could not be that bad of a man if someone as good and as pure as Rose was choosing to spend her life with him rather than someone more worthy of her affections.

She smiled at him when he pulled away and he grinned back. 'That's more like it,' she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body against his. 'Hey, Time Lord,' she said suggestively.

'Yes?' He flexed his hips against hers, his mouth moving to feather kisses against her ear and down her throat. He enjoyed her resultant shiver.

'You know what?' She pushed her hips against his and he responded immediately, growling low in his throat and pulling her more firmly against him. He had thought that he would be content with her kisses for ever, but as it turned out, his desire for her was beginning to get the better of him. He wanted to show her just how amazing a Lord of Time could be… If she was willing to let him, of course.

'What?' he answered, more than happy to humour her if it meant that he could keep her body against his for a little while longer. His hands moved lower on her waist, skimming the waistband of her jeans.

'I think…' She trailed off, gasping when he sucked lightly on the pulse point in her neck. Her heart beat quicker as he worried the skin gently between his teeth, marking her as his. Finally. 'I think that someone promised we could go shopping as soon as we got back home…'

Oh yes. He had promised that, hadn't he? He mentally kicked himself for getting so worked up when all she really wanted to do was… go shopping. Maybe he could persuade her to buy some skimpy underwear. He wondered if she would think he was a pervert for that. He growled as she did something wonderful with her hips. 'I did promise you that, didn't I?'

'Yeah you did,' she replied.

He caught her mouth with his and kissed her soundly, wondering when he had last felt desire like this before he realised that he hadn't ever felt lust this strongly before in his life. He tried to put it down to the fact that this body of his was a lot more sensitive to touch than all his previous forms had been, but deep down he knew that it was down to the strength and depth of his feelings for Rose. That scared him a little bit.

Rose returned his kiss with equal fervour, running her tongue against his as his hands slipped up under her shirt and caressed her back, one of his legs slipping in between hers and grinding gently against her. 'Maybe,' she started, speaking into his mouth.

'Yes?' he encouraged as he shifted to lick his way around the shell of her ear. His question turned into a soft moan as Rose's hands found their way to the waistband of his trousers.

'Maybe we could shop later,' she managed to stutter out as the Doctor's hands did wonderful things to her skin.

'That sounds good,' he replied. 'Any particular reason why?' he asked jokingly, hoping that it would be obvious that he was joking.

She giggled against him as her teeth nipped at the corner of his jawbone. He didn't think that anything had ever felt so exquisite in all his lives. 'Well, I've had this ache,' she said playfully. 'I think you missed it when you were fixing me up last night. I think we might need to go back to bed so we can take care of it.'

He thought that his head might explode from premature excitement. Her words made him want to ravish her right there and then. 'I know what you mean,' he said. 'I think I've had the same ache.' He pushed his hips against hers to prove his point.

'Yeah, that's the one,' she said.

They kissed again, and this time it was filled with love and longing and the promise of something more, the atmosphere more serious now they were both aware of where this was heading.

'I suppose,' the Doctor said as they slowly kissed and stumbled their way to the kitchen door. 'That this little adventure could have ended a lot worse.'

Rose smiled at him, biting her bottom lip coyly as she pushed him against the doorframe for a moment and pressed her hand against the front of the Doctor's trousers. He thought he might faint from the pleasure, glad that he had the door frame to hold him up. 'Dunno,' Rose said. 'It doesn't feel that little to me!' She darted away, disappearing off down the corridor in the direction of her bedroom.

The Doctor took a moment to recover from the boldness of her statement, basking in his typically male pride at her (what he hoped was a) compliment. And then he followed her down the corridor, knowing that whatever happened in their future, he would always follow her as far as they both could go. And he knew that it was going to be fantastic. He pushed open the door to her bedroom, finding her already waiting for him on the bed. He smiled, and went to join her, falling into her waiting embrace and settling himself in the one place he felt he truly belonged.

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_A man walks down the street on the way to meet his lover. He carries a bag in one hand, and he holds the hand of a small child in the other. They are walking through the market place on a planet far away from the one he originally came from, the one where he left part of his heart so many years ago._

_He leads the child through the throngs of people; ahead is a small demonstration of people holding placards and calling for equal rights for men and women alike. It reminds him of something that happened to him long ago, on the day his life changed forever._

_Damien and the child stop for a moment to study the toys on a stall, the small boy laughing in delight at the wooden objects and immediately begins to play a game with the man minding the stall. Damien watches for a moment before scanning his gaze over the crowd, checking the large clock at the centre of the square to make sure they are not late._

_And then he sees her. She is handing out leaflets for the demonstrators, smiling at people and hoping that they will be sympathetic for her cause. Her hair is longer than it used to be, hanging almost down to her waist where it once fell to just below her shoulders. She is wearing a long white dress. It makes her look like an angel. Damien can see the green of her eyes glinting in the sun. She looks tired, and older than she did when he knew her. Time has worn away at her and made her old, just like the rest of the universe._

_All too slowly, and yet still all too soon, she turns and sees him watching her. She freezes, the leaflets dropping from her hand to scatter away in the warm breeze. Her mouth opens slightly as she stares at him and he gazes back at her, keeping one hand on the shoulder of the child to make sure he isn't lost in the press of the crowd._

_She walks towards him slowly, and he knows that it is definitely her. He waits for his heart to speed up in the way it used to do every time he saw her, but nothing happens even as she comes to a stop a few feet in front of him. Tears are in her eyes. 'It's you!' she says, her voice robbed of some of the innocence he used to love about her._

_And now he sees the scars on her arms and across the top of her chest, marks that have not healed with time and probably never will now. It makes him ache to think of all the pain she went through on Eustance a lifetime ago. He takes the hand of the child once more, lowering his gaze and refusing to look at Airlia anymore. 'I'm sorry,' he says. And he walks away, the child practically running to keep up with him._

_He sees Heather and the baby just ahead, ready and waiting for them to return. He smiles when he sees her cradling their daughter, her face glowing with new motherhood. He kisses them both when they meet, not looking back, not wanting to see the tears he knows are pouring down Airlia's face._

'_Who was that?' Heather asks him as he takes her arm and they walk away together, the little boy's hand still held in his and the baby girl clutched in her arms._

'_No one,' he tells her as they leave the crush of the market behind, along with the woman he used to love. 'Just an old friend from long ago.'_

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**THE END**

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**A/N:** I'm actually quite sad that it's the end… Oh well! I hope you liked it, and please leave a last review to tell me what you thought!

I have details of a new project coming up, if anyone is interested! PetiteCafe and I are collaborating on a story entitled "Better With Two". I don't want to give too many details away at the moment, but we're hoping to get the first chapter up pretty soon, so please look out for it! We're highly excited about it. For more info, see either of our profiles :D Hopefully you guys will have as much fun reading it as we're having writing it, and as much fun as I had writing Beautiful Missionary. And once again, thank you for all the support!! See you all soon, Jen xx


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